Escaping This World
by sablecurse
Summary: AU post-OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes things worse. Slash, abuse, lang., rape, minor, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, lots of bashing, possible M-preg
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N:** I was in the doctor's office waiting on my mother and I was listening to music. I don't remember the song that was playing, but this Powerful-&-Independent Harry plot just popped into my head.

I have a habit of letting stories die a chapter or two along, so I decided not to start posting chapters until I had at least three completed. Also, this story is un-beta'd. If there is someone who would like to beta, let me know (even though I tend to fix as many grammar/spelling/plot issues I can on my own).

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Prologue**

It was the middle of summer in the suburbs of Little Whinging, Surrey and nearly everyone was inside their cookie-cutter homes escaping the heat of the day. One such house (specifically number four, Privet Drive) even had all the drapes closed. Most neighbors assumed it was to help keep the hot sun from making the house too warm. The real reason was to make sure the peeping neighbors didn't see the sinister things happening inside the home – sinister things revolving around the boy residing in the smallest bedroom. This boy was called Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was a wizard; in fact, he was one of the most powerful wizards alive even before he became of age. The wizarding world was almost holding its breath to see how powerful the teen became in just a couple of weeks, when he reached the wizarding majority age of seventeen on July 31st. Though to look at Harry now, no one would ever think him powerful.

On a mattress with several broken springs in the smallest bedroom was a boy who looked twelve, not nearly seventeen. He was short and skinny due to malnourishment, but this was not what made him to be pitied. All over his body were cuts and bruises, though the most telling of the real situation were the identical circular bruises around his wrists and the handprint bruises to his thighs.

Green eyes slowly opened as Harry woke from his nap. The eyes that were normally bright when at Hogwarts had dimmed to a dull hue; but a small spark still lied in them. As the Dursleys no longer made him do chores (mostly since a nosey neighbor had commented on Harry's wrist bruises off-hand to the boy's aunt, Petunia) he was mostly confined to his room. This left Harry nothing to do over the summer except to relive horrible memories and talk to Hedwig, Harry's owl, who had also been confined for the summer.

The horrible memories that young Harry thought over were mostly about the years of his abuse. He remembered that the real physical abuse started sometime around the age of five or six, as he knew that praise from a teacher his first school year triggered the first beating. Harry learned not to ever do better in school than his cousin Dudley - not that this knowledge stopped the beatings. The day the sexual abuse started he remembered quite clearly; it was during the summer when Harry was nine years old.

Harry's uncle Vernon had been watching the news and the story of a man raping a young boy was being reported on. Harry just happened to walk into the den as the story was ending to tell Vernon that supper was ready. Harry would never forget how his uncle's eyes had taken on a gleam that frightened him more than the man's big fists. Harry finished his scraps of toast and water quickly that night, washed the dishes, and shut himself in his cupboard (which was a small cupboard under the stairs the Dursleys has decided was good enough for a room for the boy). He sighed in relief as he heard the television being shut off a few hours later and listened to his whale of a cousin and equal whale of an uncle pound up the stairs. He figured his aunt had gone upstairs as well, but no one would be able to hear her normal-weight footsteps over those two giants. Harry, figuring he was safe from whatever weirdness had taken over his uncle before, drifted off to sleep on his uncomfortable cot. That night, Harry woke to his cupboard door being opened and his uncle's beefy hand clamping down roughly on his ankle. He was dragged out into the hallway, his protests being cut off when his uncle slapped his free hand over the boy's mouth. Vernon held the child down while he grabbed a belt he brought with him and wrapped it around Harry's head and then used that as a make-shift gag. Harry was then brutally raped, his uncle making lewd comments the entire time, especially about how nice the child looked covered in bruises, blood, and tears.

That night soon became a weekly routine for Vernon, usually occurring on Fridays so that when school was in session, the boy would have recovered enough by Monday to keep suspicion away. Harry was sometimes fortunate in that Vernon would sometimes skip a week when Petunia put out, a client was to come to the house over the weekend, or Vernon's sister Marge would come over to stay for a visit. While Petunia didn't like what her husband was doing, she let him continue anything that hurt the child; that was how much she hated Harry. Dudley didn't seem to understand whatever new punishment Harry was receiving, but was overjoyed that it seemed to take his smaller cousin an entire weekend to recover from it.

When the strange letters addressed to Harry started to arrive, he thought for sure that the beatings and rape would increase in frequency and harshness due to the 'freakishness' of it all, but was surprised when it stopped all-together. Harry assumed it was due to Vernon's belief that the house was now being watched since the letters had been addressed to the cupboard and then changed to the bedroom after he was moved. Whenever Hagrid had caught up with the family in the hut on the rock in the middle of a sea, he understood the real reason - Vernon believed that once Harry knew he could do magic, the boy would use it against his abusers.

During his time at Hogwarts, Harry was free to come out of his shell to a degree. He could argue, laugh, and do almost anything without the threat of a beating or rape as punishment looming over him. When Harry learned at the end of his first year that magic outside of school was prohibited, he kept quiet about it since he knew that Vernon would start up his abuse again knowing Harry couldn't fight back. Dobby ruined this secret though, as once Vernon read the reprimand from the Ministry of Magic, he started in on Harry. Unfortunately, due to Harry keeping secret his inability to use magic and the threats of magic against Dudley earlier that summer, Vernon raped Harry with little mercy and at least twice a week unless Marge was visiting. Things continued along those lines the rest the summer he spent at Privet Drive as well as the summer after his second year at Hogwarts.

The summers after Harry's third and fourth years, however, there was absolutely no abuse. The reason was the discovery that Sirius Black, escaped convict and mass murderer, was Harry's godfather and was quite fond of the child. The last thing Vernon needed was Black finding out about the abuse and murdering him in a horrendous and freakish way.

When Sirius died though, things in Harry's life became worse than ever. Harry was extremely depressed over the loss of Sirius to begin with. When the Order of the Phoenix opened its big mouth and told Vernon, things quickly went downhill. Vernon raped Harry almost every other day in frequency and that summer, Dudley decided to join in. Harry was bleeding, sore, and kept handcuffed to his bed most of his time away from school. He was only released from the cuffs to use the bathroom and shower (after all, Vernon didn't want to fuck someone filthy). Harry really only knew the school year was approaching because the rapes and abuse stopped, which signified that he was being given his usual week to recover to keep suspicion down.

Despite escaping Privet Drive for his sixth year at Hogwarts, things didn't really improve for Harry Potter. All of the friends that had gone with him to the debacle of the Department of Mysteries, including his closest friends Ron and Hermione, had finally understood just how perilous it was to be friends with Harry and had blamed him for putting them in unnecessary danger. They abandoned him and while they didn't say anything to the others in the school who questioned them about this abandonment, it was enough for Harry's peers to decide that if his closest friends thought he should be avoided, then they should avoid him as well. Even people Harry thought he could count on outside of school, like Remus Lupin or Nymphadora Tonks, had ignored all letters he had sent them.

Where once Harry had felt free at Hogwarts, he suddenly felt like he was in another cage. He was still banned from Quidditch, had no one to talk to, and was looked at by his peers as if he had leprosy. The only thing he could really do with his time was study and practice magic; he couldn't even look forward to fighting Voldemort as the snake-man was quiet the entire year. Due to how Harry spent his year, his grades improved so that by the time June rolled around, Harry had managed a top rank in most of his classes. No one seemed to care about this achievement though, and the day came for him to switch from the cage of Hogwarts to the cage of number four, Privet Drive. Once Harry stepped through the door of the house, he was dragged to his room, handcuffed to the bed, and raped by his uncle – thus starting this summer much like the last one.

Things continued this way for Harry up until today, two weeks before Harry turned seventeen. Today, Harry's uncle was stepping up the abuse and would push Harry over the edge.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Tragedy Bound_ by The Bravery

**A/N:** I'm not committed on who will be paired with Harry as of now. I'll be putting a poll up on my profile to see if readers have a preference. It may sway my preference.


	2. Make The Sadness Go Away

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N:** I have chapter after this one complete (sans proofreading). The one after that one will introduce the male to pair with Harry though, so I have yet to write it since I was undecided and wanted to see what the popular vote was. I'm almost 100% decided though, so it will be written soon.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 1 -Make The Sadness Go Away  
**

Harry was brought out of his memories when his cousin Dudley opened the bedroom door. Dudley snickered at his pathetic cousin before moving over to unlock the handcuffs.

"Dad says to go to the bathroom, shower, and come back here," the massive boy said.

Harry nodded, not wanting to disobey and get an extra beating in addition to his regular ones. He crept out into the hall and entered the bathroom where he emptied his bladder before showering. The whole time, however, dread had started to creep in. Harry had taken a shower just that morning, so why was he being made to take another? But Harry knew that if he asked questions or argued, then it would mean more pain than usual.

Getting out of the shower, Harry dried his hair off with a towel, the process taking a while since his hair had grown to shoulder-length over the previous year. Finally getting his hair dry, he wrapped the towel around his skinny 5'5" body and quickly exited the bathroom and went straight back to his bedroom. Dudley was there waiting for Harry, but didn't cuff him back to the bed like normal. The earlier feeling of dread doubled and it was almost enough for Harry to ask his cousin why – almost.

Harry sat on the end of his bed farthest away from Dudley. He waited to see if Dudley would blab about the pain in store for Harry like he normally did just to see the petite boy fidget. But today, Dudley just gave a grin to Harry that was even worse in Harry's opinion. Harry thought the grin reminded him of the one some people got when poking a dying animal with a stick – poking it just to watch it twitch.

When a sudden knock was heard on the front door downstairs, things suddenly clicked in poor Harry's mind. Vernon wanted Harry to shower. Someone was at the front door.

"No," Harry barely whispered, staring at Dudley in disbelief.

Dudley just chortled. "So, the freak understands."

Harry stood up quickly and tried to make a break for the door but Dudley's beefy hand clamped down on his arm and he was thrown back into the bed.

"Thanks for trying to run, freak. That means Dad gets to punish you even more. He better let me watch too."

Harry didn't really care about the extra punishment anymore as he heard Vernon coming up the stairs, talking to someone. He knew what was going on – Vernon was going to whore him out. His suspicions were confirmed when Vernon entered the bedroom with a fat, bald man who looked to be approaching fifty in age, who leered at Harry in a way that made him feel like he needed to spend the next week in the shower. Being raped by your uncle and cousin was one thing, but bringing in strangers meant humiliation on a new level. The secret of what his life was like was spreading beyond the walls of number four, Privet Drive and it made him ashamed in a way he hadn't felt since he was first raped by his uncle almost eight years ago.

Harry cowered into the corner of the bed against the wall and looked at his uncle in almost a pleading way, but Vernon just grinned at the creepy stranger.

"All I ask is to make sure he'll live without a hospital," his uncle told the man.

The stranger grinned in a manner that was even creepier than before. "Oh don't worry Mr. Dursley. I'll take good care of him."

Vernon chuckled and Dudley did the same before both giants left the man with Harry, closing the door to the bedroom behind them. The man was good to his word in that he didn't even beat Harry at all except to keep him in-line and the only angry words from his mouth were when he muttered about Hedwig who was making a racket to protest what Harry was going through. In the end, Harry would have just preferred brutal rape to what actually happened.

The man was gentle, but the kindness made him feel dirty. It didn't help that he kept saying things – like how Harry was a 'good little boy', he deserved this 'special treat', and how the man 'loved his child'. The use of 'love' was the worst for Harry. No one had ever said they loved him except his godfather, and now the only other person to do it was paying his incestuous uncle to rape him. It broke something in Harry's heart. Harry imagined love would be something he gave to the one he eventually decided to build a life with, but now he couldn't imagine doing so because the concept of love had been tainted by this disturbing pedophile.

When the stranger finally finished his second time of claiming the boy, Harry gathered up the nerve to ask, "How much?"

The man smiled his eerie smile. "Actually, this time was free. Dursley called it a test run of sorts and I was to give my opinion on how much he should charge. Given your stature, paleness, and tightness, I'll be recommending a thousand per visit at the minimum."

Harry couldn't believe it. He was raped by a stranger as a 'test run'. This meant that before Harry left for his last year at Hogwarts, Vernon would likely try and get him raped by as many strangers as possible to cash in. Harry waited until the stranger had left the room until he broke down crying, something he hadn't done since Sirius died.

Harry didn't know how long had passed before he heard the front door open and then close, which signified the 'customer' had left. After a few minutes ticked by, Harry heard a set of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. He breathed a sigh of relief when the footsteps went by his room and continued on to the master bedroom. What Harry didn't know, was that at the same moment the footsteps started up the stairs in Little Whinging, an alarm had started blaring many miles away.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Unknown Location in Scotland**

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was spending his day filling out address envelopes to the students who were eligible to attend the upcoming school year. Sure, he could have used a dictation quill, but he was doing it by hand because it took longer and he wanted to avoid paperwork sent by the Ministry regarding additional regulations they wanted.

The quill made a sudden veer across the envelope as an alarm started blaring, startling the old man. Albus made his way over to a table of shiny gadgets before picking up one that was flaring red. Albus paled as he realized which alarm was going off and made his way as speedily as an old man could to the gates so he could apparate.

The gadget in question was the one monitoring the wards of number four, Privet Drive. The alarm meant someone was inside the wards that had the intention to kill someone magical. Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, had years ago asked about the wards protecting Harry. When Albus explained his alarm system, she had asked why he set it for murder and not harm - like he wanted to have the alarm go off whenever Harry was meant harm.

Oh yes, Albus was pretty sure that Harry was abused – anyone with eyes (that wasn't Severus Snape or Draco Malfoy) could guess that. But the headmaster needed Harry taught to obey orders; the boy was a weapon against Voldemort after all.

As Albus made his way to the front gates, he wondered who it was that meant to kill Harry – his own uncle, a Death Eater, or Voldemort himself.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Back at Privet Drive**

Harry was startled when Vernon stomped into his room a few minutes after he passed by. When Harry saw the handgun his uncle owned in the man's hand, he paled and started to push against the wall.

His uncle just grinned. "Marty told me you were a good fuck. You'll earn me some good money before you leave. He did have one complaint though."

Before Harry could do or say anything, Vernon aimed for Hedwig's cage and fired a shot. Being unable to move, the bullet hit the magical creature and she fell to the bottom of the cage. Harry screamed out and jumped up to rush to his now dead own, but his uncle used the gun handle to smack him against the head and the sixteen-year-old fell to the floor.

Vernon grabbed the cage and turned to face the now-sobbing boy. "I won't tolerate customers complaining about the ruddy bird making a racket. It's bad for business. Be ready for the cuffs when I get back from throwing this in the garbage." With that, Vernon turned and walked out of the room and downstairs, leaving Harry alone.

With Hedwig gone, Harry realized, he had absolutely no one who cared for him anymore. He never had anyone from the muggle world and his owl was the only one from the magical world who hadn't abandoned him. Why was he risking his life and sanity by fighting Voldemort for those people over and over if they treated him like shit?

With thoughts like these running circles in Harry's mind, his eyes landed on the gun Vernon had left on the small desk when he picked up Hedwig's cage. He wasn't even aware he had stood up until the metal of the gun was in his hands.

'_I should do myself a favor for once and end my life. At least I'll be out of this nightmare,'_ Harry thought to himself. He knew the cynics would say something like, "Killing yourself won't make you happy," but that's not why people killed themselves. Harry understood that people didn't kill themselves because they thought it would make them happy – they did it to stop being so fucking miserable.

Harry thought about writing a note, but didn't think anyone deserved one or cared if he wrote one. He gave a small smile at the thought of seeing his parents and Sirius again as he brought the barrel of the gun to his temple. Just as Harry was pulling the trigger, he heard his bedroom door burst open.

"Expell-BANG-iarmus!"

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Melancholy (Holy Martyr)_ by Iced Earth

**A/N 1:** It would be evil to stop there. And I am very evil. Mwahaha.

**A/N 2:** For the curious, the alarm went off when Vernon made up his mind to kill Hedwig. Dumbledore assumed the alarm meant Harry was the target, but the device registered the harm intended for Harry's familiar, a magical creature.

**A/N 3:** Some people made suggestions for pairings for Harry that weren't in the poll. Here's my reason for not hooking up Harry with anyone not on the list - it would be too hard for him to get over the feeling of abandonment or anger to reach some level of love for anyone on the Light side or any of his fellow students. While I like the pairings mentioned, I just don't feel they work for this story.


	3. Can't Hide The Past

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N:** The person to be paired with Harry has been decided and will make his appearance next chapter (which has already been written). Thanks to those who voted in the poll. I am going to be sneaky-like and not reveal who it is until that chapter is posted.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 2 – Can't Hide the Past**

Dumbledore swore loudly as Harry's body crumpled to the floor. He rushed over and quickly did several stasis and healing spells. Albus was unlucky in that he could have stopped any damage if he had gotten there sooner; however, he was lucky in that it seemed his disarming spell moved the barrel of the gun so that the bullet wasn't fatal. His spells should keep Harry from dying, but the boy had to be brought to St. Mungo's hospital – there was no telling just how much damage the bullet did cause.

Albus searched the pockets of his lime-green and bright orange robe for the portkey to the hospital he always kept on him in case of emergencies. He was an old man after all and was a top enemy of the current dark lord. Albus finally found the portkey disguised as a band-aid and firmly grabbed Harry. With a whispered secret word to activate the portkey, Harry and Dumbledore disappeared from number four, Privet Drive.

After appearing at the well-known wizarding hospital of St. Mungo's, in a room designed just for portkey entry, Albus tucked the portkey back into a robe pocket before levitating and disillusioning Harry. He left the room with the boy floating behind him and walked quickly to the Reception Desk. He leaned down and whispered into the ear of the medi-witch on duty; the woman paled and quickly ushered him toward the hardly-used Muggle Malady Ward.

The reason for the secrecy was because Dumbledore knew that most of the wizarding papers had listening spells in the lobby of the hospital. If the wizarding world, especially Voldemort, knew that the boy savior was incapacitated, it would make things very difficult for the leader of the Light.

The group of three finally reached the correct wing of the hospital and Dumbledore was shown the door of a more secluded room. Albus guided Harry's invisible form to the bed, closed the curtains to the window and the glass wall shared with the hallway, and then removed the Disillusionment Charm on the boy. The medi-witch gasped at the bloody form of the Boy-Who-Lived and ran off, returning less than a minute later with two healers. One of the healers literally shoved Albus out the door despite his protests – medical confidentiality indeed. Albus tried eavesdropping spells, but it seemed the room was well-warded as he couldn't hear a thing. Albus plopped down into a chair in the hallway and waited for news on his weapon.

The door finally creaked open five hours later (Albus passed some of this time with a nap) and one of the healers stepped out into the hall before closing the door behind her. Dumbledore prepared to go into the room but the woman stopped him.

"I understand he is just under seventeen. I need to speak to his guardian," the healer insisted.

"I am the boy's magical guardian," Albus lied. Truth was, Sirius had been the boy's guardian in all ways as stated in the Potter's will and even him being sent to Azkaban couldn't change that. And Sirius had stated he wanted Harry emancipated in his own will. Albus decided the boy didn't need to know this, however, as it removed a significant amount of his power over Harry.

The healer took him at face-value though - after all the headmaster was the leader of the Light - and pulled him into a discreet corner. "Mr. Potter is currently stable. The significant trauma to the head has been healed, but it is unknown what kind of mental damage has been done. He is still unconscious and it appears his magic has put him into a healing coma of some sort. He should wake up, but it's up to his magic when that will be. But the most disturbing thing we found on the child was signs of long-term physical and sexual abuse. We were able to heal the bruises and the fresher marks, but there are some scars that have been there too long for us to get rid of completely. On the lucky side, the number of these old scars were few; he could easily cover them with a glamour if he so chooses. We were also able to heal the scar tissue resulting from his sexual abuse, as that appears to have been going on for less time that the physical abuse."

Albus put on the proper face of horror and anger over what the healer was telling him. Sure, Harry's living conditions were worse than the headmaster had thought, but as long as the boy lived to kill Voldemort, he didn't much care.

Albus assured the lady that he would head the investigation into the boy's muggle relatives, but it had to be done in secret to prevent backlash from the general public. In reality, Albus had no intentions of doing a thing. It wasn't like he could send the boy back there again since it was unlikely he would be out of the hospital before he reached majority age, so the only thing an investigation would do would be tarnish the headmaster's prestigious reputation.

The headmaster was finally admitted to the room as the other healer left the room, looking tired and a little pale. The medi-witch who originally brought them to the room told Albus that a healer would be sent around every few hours to check on Harry and give him potions. The only other thing left to do was wait.

After ten days passed, Albus was very tired of waiting on the savior to wake the hell up. Luckily for him, he got a note via owl on the morning of July 26th that Harry had woken up, but there were complications. Dumbledore floo'd to the hospital and quickly made his way to Harry's room.

At first glance, everything seemed alright with the boy. Harry was looking up at Albus with a smile, his green eyes looking healthy and he was even eating some pudding on his own. Dumbledore was about to question the healer about the complications that had been mentioned in the owl's letter when Harry opened his mouth – then all became clear.

"Do you know where my mommy and daddy are?" Harry asked Albus, his voice sounding much too child-like and innocent for what Harry had been through.

The woman smiled sadly, "They had to go away for a while, but we'll do some fun things until you see them again. Okay?"

Harry frowned a little before nodding and went back to eating his pudding.

The healer went to Dumbledore and quietly told him what was going on. "It seems he has some memory loss. He seems to remember language, eating, and other basic things. Harry believes he is a young child and his parents are still alive. He doesn't remember the events of the past sixteen years except for the knowledge he gained. For instance, he remembers spells he learned at Hogwarts, but none of the people he encountered or events he experienced there. And while he believes himself a child, most of his language is that of his real age with only minor differences. The healing we did should have kept all of the memories in place, so I believe the memories are still there but they are buried beneath the surface. We believe that he was unconscious for so long because his magic was working to block out the painful memories. The blocks aren't solid though, as some words seem to set off an episode. Watch."

The lady turned back to Harry, feeling guilty for what she was about to do. "Harry. Do you love your parents?"

Albus could see an immediate change as the boy's shoulders tensed and his eyes went from bright and innocent to dull and haunted. The more noticeable reaction though was the boy's magic causing the wizarding pictures on the wall to shake and rattle before they fell off the wall, greatly pissing off the subjects of said pictures.

Harry then said, in a quiet and defeated tone, "I don't believe in love. Love is filthy."

Seconds later, the boy's magic was calm again and he quickly regained his childish demeanor. "Did you say something, Mrs. Nastar?"

The healer shook her head and brought a magical coloring book to Harry, where the coloring tool was a wand that changed its color selection every so often and the pictures in the book moved around. "Here. How about you color your mom and dad some pictures so you can give it to them as a gift."

Harry smiled brightly. "Okay!" It took a while for Harry to figure out how the wand worked, but once he did, he began coloring while humming a made-up tune.

Albus couldn't use this person. Sure, the boy seemed to remember spells he learned, but in this naïve and innocent mentality, Harry was sure to run from a frightening thing like a dark lord. He needed Harry to remember.

"Healer Nastar, is there anything to help the boy remember?"

The woman shook her head. "Since it was his own magic that did this, the healer recommends to let Harry either keep the memories hidden or to let the memories slowly come on their own. To force the blocks on the painful memories down would do more mental harm than good, we believe."

'_Well,'_ Dumbledore thought, _'that will not do at all.'_ But he nodded to the healer as if in agreement while he thought about all the ways to make Harry regain his memories.

"Could I spend some time with the boy? Since he doesn't seem to remember people, I should get to know him again."

The woman accepted. "Harry. Headmaster Dumbledore is going to play with you for a while. I'll be back after in a little while to see how the pictures are coming." She gave an affectionate smile to her new favorite patient before heading out of the room.

Harry glanced up at the old man and gave a nervous smile before going back to coloring. "Do you want to color too?"

Albus rolled his eyes when the child wasn't looking but forced a smile on his face and sat down next to Harry's bed. "Oh, no thank you my dear boy." Ah – 'boy' seemed to be another key word, though not as strong as the last one. Albus reached into his colorful robe and pulled out a tin before opening it and offering it to Harry, "Lemon Drop?"

Harry glanced at the tin and looked eager to have a piece but shook his head. "I'm not supposed to take candy from strangers."

Albus chuckled and took one for himself before tucking the tin back in his robes. He let Harry continue coloring while Albus thought of all the ways he could try and force the repressed memories to emerge.

There were likely some complicated spells, but he knew the hospital traced wand-magic done in the patient rooms and he'd take the backlash from the hospital staff for going against their advice. The easiest way was to say as many words as he could that might cause the same reactions as earlier and hope it overloaded the blocks on his memories. After a few minutes of compiling a list of likely words, he once again turned to the boy on the bed.

"Harry, my dear boy, don't you just love people with funny names, like Dudley, Dursley, Vernon, Petunia, and Bellatrix? Especially if they wear veils or cuffs?"

The reaction was not what Albus was hoping for as Harry's magic turned the headmaster's hat into a block of ice and pushed him out of the room, while the boy yelled about him being a 'mean, old man'. When the headmaster tried to open the door that had shut behind him, the handle shocked him. The little brat had locked him out.

Well, this may have put a damper on Dumbledore's plans but he was still determined to get his weapon back under control. It was time for Albus to visit his resident got-to guy – a certain Professor Severus Snape.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Smoke_ by Natalie Imbruglia

**A/N 1:** I know that the amnesia thing is done a lot. Don't worry though, as it'll be over by next chapter.

**A/N 2:** I am not happy with what Dumbles says to try and force Harry's blocks down. My mind just refused to come up with something better.

**A/N 3:** Thanks so much to lovebird17 for reminding me about the doctor/healer and nurse/medi-witch issue. It completely slipped my mind when writing it. This chapter was updated with the changes and it reminded me to do the same for the next chapter.


	4. Tear Your Little World Apart

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N:** And the pairing is - *drumroll* - Harry/Salazar! When I first started this story, I was leaning towards an OMC. A few days after the prologue was published, I was divided mostly between an OMC and Salazar. After posting the first chapter, I had pretty much eliminated Lucius and a Lestrange and I was pretty much set on Salazar. Slytherin won out, obviously.

I have had a couple of plot bunnies give me ideas on those I didn't chose so, given time, I will likely toss out a story for each of the others paired with Harry. Those stories might take a while though as I still have two stories I want to focus on (besides this one) that will take priority.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 3 – Tear Your Little World Apart**

Severus Snape was enjoying his summer free of ill-behaved little brats. He finally had time to experiment with his beloved potions; in fact, he was trying out a new way to brew the Draught of Peace as mentioned in the recent issue of _The Practical Potioneer_. Snape had almost completed the new method when the door to his private potions lab banged open, making him pause his stirring which turned the potion into a gloppy mess.

"Severus," Albus beamed. "Not too busy I hope."

Severus sneered at the twinkling old fool. If only Voldemort didn't make him spy, he'd leave Hogwarts and its annoying brats and old men for good. Still, he knew better than to make the headmaster angry with him. Albus handled his salary after all.

"Not anymore, Albus. What do you need?"

Albus smiled, though his eyes remained stormy. "Tell me, Severus – is there a potion that can return memories that have been lost?"

Snape took on a thoughtful look as he searched through his mental catalog of potions. "The only one I know of is the Remember All Potion, but it's usually too dangerous."

Albus's eyes brightened a little at the knowledge that a potion existed that could work. "Why is that?"

"The potion makes the drinker mentally relive every moment of their life up until the present time, but all that memory is crammed into a minute's time. It is too risky as that much mental stimulus would drive most people insane."

"How long does it take to make?"

"A little over four days. Albus, you can't seriously be thinking of using it on someone."

The twinkle in the old man's eyes dimmed as he looked at Severus. "Get to brewing it, Severus. But if it makes you feel any better, the potion is for the bane of your existence – Harry Potter. I'll expect the potion done four nights from now. Also, I want you there to administer it. Damn door handle."

Albus turned and made his way to the door. "Oh. Seeing as no one would really understand our reasons for using the potion, not a word to anyone."

When Severus was left to himself, he thought about who the potion was for. He hated the Potter brat, but the pain the potion would likely cause made him hesitate; he wasn't completely heartless. Snape decided that he would let the Dark Lord know everything and let him make a decision on what should be done.

Snape found the book the Remember All Potion was in and wrote down the ingredients, noting that he'd have to pick up a batch of rare powdered dragon horn (on the Hogwarts account, of course). If Voldemort wanted the potion brewed, better be prepared with the list of needed ingredients.

Severus pocketed the list and made his way out of the school and past the front gate. He apparated while concentrating on the Dark Mark on his forearm. Snape didn't waste any time making his way inside the manor that now acted as Death Eater headquarters – one of Lucius's many properties, he supposed. Severus went to the study Voldemort was usually in and knocked on the door.

"Enter," said a voice from inside.

Snape opened the door and went inside. He quickly closed the door before turning and bowing at the waist towards his Lord. The professor was one of the lucky few who didn't have to kiss the other man's robes.

"Severus, this is a surprise. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

Snape looked up at the Dark Lord. Voldemort still had the snake-like appearance, but the man's sanity had gotten better over the last year. Snape had warned Voldemort about the side-effects from that blood ritual, but his Lord was too impatient to wait while another method to bring him back was found.

"My Lord, Dumbledore has ordered me to do something that may conflict with your orders. I wanted to know what you would like me to do." Snape then told Voldemort everything he had been told, from the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived had apparently lost a great deal of memory to the side effect of the potion he had been ordered to make.

Voldemort thought out all the various actions he could take and their likely outcomes. He smiled as he arrived at his decision. "Do as Dumbledore asked. If the boy goes insane, then he is no longer a threat to me. If he doesn't, chances are he will never forgive Dumbledore for the pain the potion causes and I will worry about what threat Harry is to me then.

"Make sure to pensieve the memories of the old fool asking you for the potion though. If things go wrong and he is found out, I wouldn't put it past him to lay all the blame on you. Also, notify Lucius for when the potion is ready to be administered so he can follow you (thankfully his money went a long way in clearing his name). Malfoy can act as a witness to back up the pensieve memories if it becomes necessary and I can have a valid reason for knowing the outcome of the potion. I wouldn't want to lose my best spy."

Severus bowed to his Lord before leaving the study and heading to the manor's exit. He had some potion ingredients to buy.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Four days later**

**Hogwarts - Severus Snape's Personal Potion Lab**

Severus had spent the last four days working on the Remember All Potion, taking joy in the opportunity to work on such a rare potion despite the misery said potion would cause. He knew Dumbledore would be down to check on his progress soon, so he quickly tossed a note in the Floo directed to Malfoy Manor where Lucius would be waiting. Minutes later, Albus let himself into the potions lab, Severus's privacy wards be damned.

"I know what you're going to ask, Albus. The potion is done but has to cool for three more minutes before it is bottled." That should be enough time for Lucius to take the long walk from his Floo fireplace to his front door.

Albus beamed at his potions professor. "Great news. Now, we will be heading for St. Mungo's, but do your best not to be seen. If things go bad, we don't want to have been noticed."

Snape rolled his eyes. Of course they didn't want to be noticed going in to the Boy-Who-Lived's room with an illegal potion in hand. He was a Slytherin, not an idiotic Gryffindor. After listening to the headmaster suck on his lemon drop candies for a few minutes (which was driving him up the wall), Snape bottled the black potion and grabbed his cloak.

"Let's get this over with. It's almost midnight and I want to get in a glass of brandy before I turn in."

Albus smiled and the two made their way to the front gates. Snape made a hand signal out of the old man's site towards a tree near the gate. The two wizards then disapparated with a crack; a half-minute passed before another crack was heard.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**St. Mungo's Wizarding Hospital**

Dumbledore and Snape arrived in the Floo room of St. Mungo's before Albus quickly and quietly let Snape to the room Harry had been brought to. Luckily, the halls were nearly empty of staff as most magical accidents happened during daylight hours. The few medi-witches and healers on duty seemed to be elsewhere making rounds.

Albus motioned for the potions master to open the door to Harry's room. Severus did so and peeked inside to find Harry Potter asleep cuddling a stuffed dog. He barely contained his snort; he didn't want to wake the boy as it would be easier to administer the potion if Harry was asleep. Albus walked into the room beaming, happy that the ward keeping him out was on the door handle – problem solved when he made Snape open the door.

"Let us hurry before the healers make their rounds in this ward," Albus said. He motioned Snape to administer the potion.

Severus knew Albus was trying to keep his hands clean. "Albus, are you sure this is a good idea?"

The headmaster gave Snape a stern look. "It must be done, Severus. Now hurry."

The potions master nodded and made his way over to the bed. He nudged Harry's head up and pried open his mouth, working gently to keep the boy asleep. He then poured the concoction into the boy's mouth and stroked Harry's throat until he swallowed it. After the last of the mixture was swallowed, Snape backed up to where Albus was standing.

Several seconds passed until the potion began to work on the Boy-Who-Lived. The first sign that the potion was working was the vast increase of magic pouring off the boy in response to the mental stimulus. Things got out of hand quickly when about ten seconds into the minute-long memory recovery, Harry let out a blood-curdling scream and clutched at his temples. The magic pouring off the boy started to become chaotic and destructive, setting the picture frames and curtains over the windows on fire. The screams continued - one scream echoing off the walls before the next one started, making it sound like one continuous cry of pain and horror. Albus was trying to put up silencing wards, but Harry's wild magic was interfering with the headmaster's attempts. And things were about to get much worse.

Dumbledore and Snape heard the striking of a clock before both were suddenly thrown against the wall furthest from Harry. The Chosen One's magic was skyrocketing, as were his screams. The glass wall of the room that was shared with the hall shattered, as did the window to the outside; Albus could hear glass breaking further down the hallway as well. Dumbledore's beard was also starting to smolder. Panic set into the old man as a thought occurred to him.

"Severus," Albus yelled over Harry's screams, "What is the date?"

"July 30th, or it was when we left Hogwarts. Why?"

'_Dammit,'_ Albus thought. _'The boy is hitting his inheritance – under severe stress.'_ You see, it had been discovered just recently that people going under extreme stress when their inheritance hit tended to gain more power from their coming of age. Putting children coming of age under said stress wasn't really encouraged though as the amount of stimuli needed to make a real impact couldn't be handled by most people. The clock striking must have been midnight, which meant Harry had just hit his seventeenth birthday while under the effects of a potion that stimulated his mind enough to drive him insane. This would have been well and good for Dumbledore's plans to use Harry to fight Voldemort; unfortunately, it wasn't a good sign if Potter's magic was acting against the headmaster.

The remainder of the potion's minute finally passed and Dumbledore was glad his beard stopped smoking. The magic that had been let loose in the room (and down the hall if the earlier sound of breaking glass coming from there was any indication) had curled like a thick fog into the small form on the bed. However, the magic holding Albus and Severus against the wall remained.

Getting tired of being stuck and wanting to see if Harry was insane, Albus called out to him. "Harry?"

That was a wrong move, as an invisible hand gripped the old fool's throat. The previously still figure slowly crawled into a kneeling position on the bed. Harry finally lifted his head to the two on the wall, barely sparing a glance at Snape before turning his eyes to Dumbledore. Snape was glad he was ignored this time.

Harry's eyes were bright emerald green, swirling with anger and power. The eyes reminded the potions master of a very pissed of Voldemort and he didn't want eyes like that trained on him. Albus didn't seem to be faring well against them either, though it could be the fact that Potter's magic seemed to be choking him.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the old man, but a flicker of sadness crossed them. "Why? Why couldn't you let me forget? Why couldn't you let me be happy for once?"

Albus tried to smile his twinkly-eyed smile, but it was hard with the invisible hand pressing against his neck. "Harry, dear boy, we needed you to remember. You are the only one who can defeat Voldemort."

Oh, that was definitely the wrong thing to say. The unseen hand tightened around Dumbledore's throat and Harry let out a croaky laugh, his voice hoarse from all the screaming.

"You want me to fight for you? If you had treated me like a human being instead of a disposable tool, I might have been so inclined. If the entire side of the Light hadn't abandoned me, I might have a reason to. If I had grown up happy, I might see the point. Unfortunately, you just ruined the happiness my mind was so desperate to give me."

Harry stood up from the bed and made his way over to the two men, his hospital gown changing into a simple pair of pants and shirt with thought alone. Snape hid his shock well, but Albus let out a gasp; he was doomed if Harry turned to the Dark.

Harry smirked, "Anything to say old man? More lies to spin me?"

Albus tossed in his last argument, "Harry, Voldemort killed your parents. They were on the side of the Light. Surely you want to take revenge for them?"

Harry shook his head. "No, old fool. I've had it. While Voldemort killed them and I don't like him for it, you have ruined my life much more. You put me with those monsters and sent me back for so many years despite my pleading. I'm done with the wizarding world."

"But Voldemort will kill us all!"

Harry's eyes took on a hollow look and said in barely a whisper, "No one saved me, so I will save no one."

Harry shook his sorrow off and turned to the broken windows lining the hallway. "I know you are there, Mr. Malfoy."

Lucius stepped into the view of one of the windows. "Very astute."

Harry sneered. "Malfoy, tell your Lord this. If he leaves me be, I'll return the favor. However, if he or his Death Eaters try to harm me, I'll kill them without a thought."

Harry then turned to Albus, who had drastically paled when he realized Harry was completely out of his control. "The same goes for you, Dumbledore. If you or any of your Order try and recruit me, or kill me in the case of people like Moody, I'll maim or kill them – depends on their actions."

Harry then turned to Severus. "Make sure to tell both groups what I said, especially the Order. I don't exactly trust the master manipulator here to be forthcoming with the loss of the 'Savior'." Harry sneered at his own title.

The fluttering of wings brought the attention to all four men to a magnificent eagle owl that had just flown through the broken window and landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry grimaced at the remembrance of losing his only friend, Hedwig, before reaching up and petting the owl. Lucius recognized the owl as one from Gringotts and was surprised the bird let Potter touch it; they tended to be unsociable like their goblin owners.

Harry took the letter and read it before grinning and looking at the bird. "Thank you. I will be there shortly, so there's no need for a reply."

The owl nodded its head and took off out the window, disappearing from sight.

"Well, well. Time to leave the wizarding world to its own devices. Remember my words. Let my departure to you be a last warning."

Harry finally removed the magic on Snape and Dumbledore and then smiled devilishly before disapparating. Right before he vanished, he unleashed his magic outward; tinkling glass was heard from all around. After a minute or so passed, panicked yells could be heard coming from a few halls over about how all the glass in the building was supposed to be unbreakable and the wards disguising the building from muggles had completely been shattered. It seemed Harry's magic had broken all the windows in the building and taken out all of St. Mungo's wards. It was a strong warning indeed.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Unknown Location**

At the exact moment Harry unleashed his magic as a warning, grey eyes snapped open and a young man sat up.

"He has come – my equal."

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Vow _by Garbage

**A/N 1:** And so Salazar enters the story. As you can tell, I made Harry very powerful, which some people have issues with. Harry might be powerful in this story, but he isn't really going to use it to rule the world or make anyone really submit to him. As of now, I really just plan for him to use said magic to try and live in peace.

Speaking of, I was asked if Harry was going to go Dark. At this moment, I have no plans for Harry to join either side of the war as this is meant to be an 'Independent Harry' story. My muse might decide different later on though, but I'll mention the change if it comes.

**A/N 2:** The orders Snape mentions that would be in conflict with using the potion is the one Voldemort gave all his Death Eaters stating that Potter was off-limits to anyone but himself. I figure making Harry insane with those orders in effect without bringing it up with Tom first would be a bad idea.

**A/N 3:** Lucius was able to find out which direction Snape and Dumbledore went into the hospital due to a Four-Point Spell. Once Lucius was inside the wards of the hospital, I believe said spell would work.

A/N 4: Will Snape be a good/bad guy? I've had a couple of people ask me about how Snape will turn out. As you can see in this story, his real loyalty is to Voldemort. He isn't a bad guy though; he just has the same beliefs as Voldemort regarding muggles and has seen how Albus really is. He's not fond of the torturing or killing, even if it involves Harry Potter (as seen with his hesitation to give him the potion). That is Snape in my mind as of now and I doubt my muse will change this.


	5. Already Waited Too Long

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N:** I've been itching to reread the series again, but that would mean ten days or so of no new chapters. I'm trying to hold off until I get several chapters ahead so I could still update every 3-4 days like I have been doing. But if I disappear for a week and a half, you'll know I'm just reading the books.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 4 – Already Waited Too Long**

The only noise at Gringotts this time of night was the fluttering of a few birds bringing messages back and forth and the sound of three goblins specifically assigned to night-time duty. You never knew when a worthwhile deal could be made; besides, they had other bank branches in other time zones that they needed to keep in contact with.

All three goblins on duty shot up in their seats when someone apparated directly into their lobby. If someone was powerful enough to ignore the ward that prevented such, the goblins knew to proceed with respect. One of the goblins moved from behind his desk and over to the intruding wizard.

"Can I help you, sir?"

Harry moved from the shadow of the column he was beside and grinned down at the goblin. "Ah, Griphook. A few minutes ago, I received a letter informing me of receiving my rightful monetary inheritances. I assume that since I have come of age, I can now claim all things left to me by my parents and godfather. Correct?"

Griphook bowed once he saw whom he was talking to before straightening and smiling a toothy grin. "Indeed. Your parents stated that most of their valuables be held until you reached seventeen. Lord Black's will left you everything, but it was also unavailable until you reached of age due to his status as a wanted criminal at the time of his death."

Harry nodded. "Very well. If we could please go over my current holdings, I will pay you well for the inconvenience of the hour."

Griphook's eyes lit up with the thought of extra profits and eagerly led Harry to a private office to get down to business.

**Slytherin Château**

**Somewhere in Southern France**

Salazar Slytherin blinked a few times before stretching. He noticed the small amount of dust on his body and froze mid-stretch. _'Hmm, the impervious spells were designed to keep anything from touching me for a thousand years,'_ he thought. _'I must have been in stasis for a little over that.' _Salazar recalled how he came to be here.

_**~Flashback~**_

Salazar was a brilliant young wizard of twenty-two. He had his father's grey eyes and his mother's blond hair. He had reached a height of six feet and the days spent riding brooms and swimming in lakes had made him lightly muscled.

Salazar had recently escaped his father's critical eyes to help his friends create a magical school. He was extremely proud when they had finished and were able to open the doors to help teach magical children. It didn't take long for his father to start problems though.

The man was furious that his son was allowing 'mud-bloods' into the school; he even said the poorer wizarding children should be banned – the school should be for elite pure-bloods only. To be honest, Salazar could see the point about muggle-borns. Just recently, muggles had attempted to purify the world of what they labeled as 'heathens', which resulted in a few deaths of witches and wizards who didn't know the right magic to stay alive. Including muggle-borns in the school meant risking exposure to their world in addition to putting said children themselves at risk since the parents might be prone to violence against their own offspring. But he drew the line at banning wizarding children just because they were poor. Salazar had taken his own inheritance and invested it during the building of Hogwarts so he could financially help those students who couldn't afford their own supplies. But not even Salazar's own sister, Armina, supported his decision to 'squander' his money.

Due to his family's negativity, Salazar began to question his life's direction and was becoming depressed. The three other founders wanted to help their friend regain his former happiness and both Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw began to set him up with various people (Godric didn't want to think about Salazar's sex-life). Salazar played along with his friends' antics because he didn't want to worry them, but no one really held his interest. They had made him realize that he was lonely though, and so he started his search for his match – someone he could really be happy with and had the same ideals as him.

Salazar quickly found out that he just wasn't interested in women, so that cut his search down. But what really narrowed the search was finding someone equal or near-equal to him in magical strength. The magic of the Slytherin family was powerful and Salazar was the epitome of that power; few wizards would meet that criteria. In fact, after narrowing down who met the magical strength criteria, he realized that the wizards who made the list were all narrow-minded pure-bloods who shared his father's views regarding the poor of the wizarding world. There was no one who he could be really happy with.

Depression began seeping in again before Godric finally stepped in, smacking Salazar upside the head. "Stop being a brooding idiot," Gryffindor said. "If there isn't anyone now that you might be happy with, there could always be someone yet to be born. Wizards live a long time, so stop giving up hope."

These words gave Salazar the perfect idea to find the right wizard for him. He found someone to take over teaching the classes he had overseen at Hogwarts, before going to his own château in France and fortifying himself in his potions lab. He experimented with potions, spells, charms, other kinds of magic, and ways of combining them to get the result he wanted. Two years of research and experimenting finally paid off and Salazar had created a combination of blood ritual, potion, and spell that he felt was perfect. The potion part would put Salazar into a stasis that was similar to the Draught of Living Death. When a wizard matching the criteria stated in the spell was found, he would be awakened as if he had just gone to sleep. The blood ritual would keep anyone from finding his home and would thus keep him safe from others while he was in such a vulnerable state.

Before Salazar went through with his new discovery, he went to Hogwarts to bid farewell to his life-time friends. While the other three founders were going to miss him, they understood that Salazar felt he needed to do this to be happy – that was all they wanted for him. Salazar's father was very disappointed in Salazar's decision, but he loved his only son despite how much he disagreed with his views, so he decided against disowning him.

After having said his goodbyes, Salazar went back to his château and sent the house elves that worked there to Hogwarts. He covered everything his could outside and inside his home in impervious spells before performing the blood ritual to secure his home. He went up to the master bedroom and found a comfortable position on his bed before casting an impervious on himself. He then uncorked the potion he had created before chanting the spell that went with it. After finishing the spell's incantation, Salazar downed the potion, grimacing at the taste. Seconds later, his eyes closed and his head plopped backwards onto the pillow.

_**~End Flashback~**_

Salazar removed the dust on himself. _'At least no side-effects from the potion as far as my memory is concerned,'_ he thought. _'But if there is dust in the room and on me, then the whole house and yard likely need to be cleaned and spruced up. Wonder if the house elves I sent to Hogwarts have descendants that still obey me.'_

"I call any elves bound to the Salazar Slytherin line to appear to your master."

Several pops sounded around the bedroom and Slytherin smiled. All of the elves were wearing a uniform with the Hogwarts coat-of-arms. "I am unsure of how much you know of me, but I have awoken after more than a thousand years of sleeping. Will the head elf of the line please come forward and fill me in on the date and any important issues I should know about."

An older female elf stepped forward and bowed low. "I am Twixny, my Lord, and the date is July 31st, 1997. The major issue that you should be aware of is a current war brewing between wizards labeled as Light and Dark. The Light is being led by the current headmaster of Hogwarts while the Dark is being led by the most recent descendant of the Slytherin line."

One of Salazar's eyebrows lifted. "He must be descended from Armina. I'll need to meet with both of these leaders before I decide where I stand – a relative versus someone entrusted with the school I helped build. Tell me Twixny, how do the house elves view each of these leaders?"

Twixny glanced at the other elves, who nodded, before turning back to Salazar. "The Dark Lord is smart in that he knows what the muggles are capable of. In these times, it is said they have the power to blow up the entire world in minutes. This along with the muggle-borns pushing aside wizarding culture for muggle culture makes the elves believe the muggles should be cut off from our world completely. The Dark Lord is very cruel though. He has been known to torture and kill and he doesn't treat wizards of lesser blood or wizarding creatures well at all.

"On the other hand, the headmaster wants to try and open up the bridge between the muggle and wizarding worlds even more, which we elves believe would result in disaster and the possible slaughter of our world. Unlike the Dark Lord, the headmaster tries to resolve most matters peacefully. Lately though, we have overheard him talking about needed sacrifices and shaping the world to how he believes it should be, which means his methods aren't completely blood-free either.

"As of now, the elves allowed their own choice in the matter have not sided with either."

Salazar was thrown off by several comments. Were muggles really so powerful as to be able to destroy everything? If so, then he definitely agreed that the worlds should be separated – and soon. This Dark Lord seemed to share many of the views of his father and sister and he dreaded trying to debate with him on the pure-blood and creature issue. He had enough arguments about the same topics to last a lifetime. The headmaster worried him more though. The Sorting Hat should have never chosen someone who was willing to sacrifice others for power, which sounded exactly like what was happening.

"Twixny, did the Sorting Hat choose the current headmaster?"

The elf shook her head sadly. "No, my Lord. Now the Board of Governors votes on who becomes headmaster. The Sorting Hat has not decided a headmaster in many years."

Salazar took a deep breath and tried to let all his anger dissipate. There was a reason the Sorting Hat was meant to decide the headmaster. It was a magical object designed to be completely unprejudiced and unswayable by things like blood purity, wealth, and popularity. He had to change his focus or he was just going to want to head to Hogwarts right away to clean house. That could wait though, as he wanted to know who had woken him.

"Thank you Twixny. Now, do you or any of the elves here know who the wizard was that let off the burst of power that woke me?"

"We elves felt the power at Hogwarts. We do not know who it was but we know it originated near Diagon Alley, sir."

Salazar remembered the location as it was one of the few wizarding shopping locations open in his past. "I shall have to go and find him then, Twixny. I would like to request that those who wish to be formally bound to me to step forward."

All the elves that had appeared at his earlier call stepped forward and Salazar took the time to find out their names and jobs they preferred to do before performing the binding ceremony. It also pleased him to learn that the house elves at Hogwarts paid them a wage and provided them with clean clothing. He decided to continue paying them and agreed to find them an appropriate uniform.

After performing binding rituals for each elf, Salazar requested that they begin cleaning the house and yard. Also, aspects of the house would need to be updated and he instructed them to make a list of things he should do to update his château (indoor plumbing sounded nice).

Salazar waited until the last elf left the room before changing out of his dusty outfit into a simple yet elegant robe. He didn't want to stand out and draw attention to himself just yet, but he didn't want to look sloppy when he met his equal. After tying back his long blond hair, Slytherin left the château – he had a young wizard to find.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_How Soon is Now?_ by Snake River Conspiracy

**A/N 1: **Sorry there is so little of Harry in this. I had to get Salazar's back-story in at some point and I'd rather get it out in one large chuck that have to keep mentioning bits and pieces. I was also reluctant to put such a large flashback in, but it worked best for the amount of information I needed to convey.

The only thing I didn't mention was the current opinion of Salazar based on what we've seen. This will be addressed in a future chapter though, so I didn't just ignore it.

**A/N 2:** Also, I don't know how accurate the year is in relation to cannon. Close enough.

**A/N 3:** Armina means 'noble' using Latin origin, or so the name meaning website I used told me.

**A/N 4:** Yes, Twixny's name came from me wanting a candy bar at the time, haha. Also, I'm not doing the Dobby-elf speech for elves, unless maybe bring in Dobby himself (maybe his speech will change too). I think elves in general are intelligent and gather a lot of knowledge due to how people ignore them when they talk. Also, I was really lazy and didn't want the extra work with doing dialect. If Hagrid appears in this story, he won't have one either.


	6. Coming to Find You

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **I got some questions about certain things in my last chapter. I've addressed these questions in my ending notes. Also, I'm glad I remembered that it was supposed to be the middle of the night for this scene because I had forgotten and originally wrote about how crowded Diagon Alley was. That kind of thing happens when you live in the pollen-filled South and run out of Claritin for a few days. The headaches and congestion from being without said pills are also why this chapter is later than normal – I just couldn't write through the brain fog/sludge.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 5 – Coming to Find You**

Salazar had apparated to the old entrance to Diagon Alley and found a brick wall in his way. He didn't sense any magic coming from the wall, so he figured the entrance must have been moved in the last thousand years. Salazar shrugged and sensed for the familiar energy of a magical doorway. After locating the magic he was looking for, he followed the energy out from between the two old buildings he had appeared in and skidded to a halt.

'_What is all this stuff?'_ A thousand years was an abstract idea until now. Salazar recognized fewer things than not. He really needed to escape to Diagon Alley. He sighed and decided that he should just keep his eyes on the ground in front of him while he followed the doorway's magical signature.

About a block's walk later, Salazar found himself in front of an obvious wizarding establishment called The Leaky Cauldron. _'Is the wizarding world out of its mind?'_ Salazar glanced at the muggles passing the store and observed that none of them noticed the place. _'Hmm. Must be a newer spell. I'll need to pick up some books so I can learn all I've missed.' _

Salazar quietly made his way into the building and followed the pull he felt to the back door, making sure to gain as little attention as possible in the process. He exited the tavern and glanced at the wall that faced him. The magical doorway was here, but there seemed to be a method to opening it. Salazar sighed impatiently and just overpowered the doorway's magic to open to him; he'd have to ask someone about it later.

Salazar stepped into the doorway that formed and smiled at the wondrous sight. He spotted a few familiar stores here and there, but most of what he saw was new to him. The store that drew his eyes the most was something called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes; even in the middle of the night, those colors were damn bright. Salazar was soon looking through all the windows of the interesting shops.

**Gringotts**

Harry was beaming as he gave a bow to Griphook. It had taken a while to go over his estates and finances, but he had plenty to keep him happy and secure from the war. He secured the key to his new vault around his neck – he had all his vaults combined for ease – and walked to the door. He also tucked away the portkeys to his various estates (easiest way to the hidden ones according to the Goblins). He planned to buy new clothes, books, and magical supplies. Some food would be nice as well since he'd been mostly eating hospital food for two weeks and nothing of substance before that.

'_Think about something else,'_ Harry thought to himself. _'You can deal with those monsters and the emotions later. Time to cheer up and buy yourself everything you've been denied.'_ Harry kept up his mental pep talk as he headed out of the bank and into Knockturn Alley for clothes; most of the shops in Diagon Alley closed this time of night.

**Down the Alley**

Salazar's head snapped away from looking at the broom in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies to glance down the street. He felt the power that had awoken him coming from further in the alley. His equal must have been secured behind wards until a few minutes ago – likely Gringotts if it was still as fortified as in Salazar's past. He made his way through the lane, before stopping at a familiar white building. Gringotts looked more polished and he could definitely tell that this is where his equal had been.

Salazar followed the power ebbing from the other male to a different and darker alley, but it seemed to have the only stores open. He followed the magic to what appeared to be an upscale clothing store called Twilfit & Tattings. He glanced through the windows, but couldn't see anything but clothes. He didn't want to go inside with no money – that would draw suspicion and anger the store owner. Weighing his options, Salazar sighed before heading back to Gringotts. He would get money from his account (he knew more than a thousand years of interest would make him wealthy) and hope the young male he so wanted to meet had plenty of shopping yet to do.

Salazar quickly made his way to the bank and blinked when he noticed the hours of operation. _'Since when does Gringotts close during the night? What about the vampires?'_ Salazar shrugged and did the same as Harry had done earlier – apparated directly into the bank.

**One hour later**

Salazar exited the bank groaning about how long it had taken to prove who he was and go over all he had inherited from his father and other family. After that, he had to get the gold, vault keys, deeds, and estate portkeys he needed. He perked up when he felt that the man he was searching for was still nearby.

Salazar made his way back to the clothing store, but it seemed the other had moved on to a different store, so he followed the power. He could tell his equal had been in and out of an apothecary and stationary shop but was still inside the Blotted & Bound Books store.

Salazar stepped inside the store and began browsing. He divided his attention between glancing at the book titles and following the magic that was so close to him. Several times, he picked out a book that sounded interesting and added it to a pile he wanted to purchase. He made his way halfway through the store when another customer came into view.

He stared at the vision before him. His equal was so petite, had long black hair, and could easily be mistaken for a woman or a much younger male. Salazar couldn't see the other's eyes though and he didn't want to just walk up and say something stupid.

'_I have to think of something to say to him,'_ he thought.

Meanwhile, Harry was trying to hurry and finish his shopping. The other man who had come in the store after him was radiating strong magic. He had felt the magic earlier when he was being fitted for clothes and he knew for sure it was coming from this blonde. At first glance, Harry had thought a Malfoy had come in the store, but this guy was taller than any Malfoy he had seen – plus, his hair was a darker blonde. Still, he was wary of the stranger since he could feel the man's eyes on him now and then. He decided to speed up his book browsing so he could leave all the sooner.

Harry finally finished gathering all the books he wanted before floating them to the counter. He tensed as he noticed the other man get in line to checkout behind him – he was definitely being followed by this guy. Harry paid for his order and shrunk his bags before stepping out into the street. He had wanted to go to a store further down for some boots and accessories, but he thought maybe he should call it a night and finish shopping another time.

'_Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I guess I should be used to people staring at me.'_

He calmed himself down and headed towards Hidden Hides, debating whether he was feeling adventurous enough to try on some dragon hide pants.

Salazar rushed though paying for his books and shrunk his down as well. He had to catch up to the younger man. He exited the store and saw him headed down the alley. He ran to catch up to him, calling out "Wait!"

Harry froze in place. _'He __was__ following me.' _He turned towards the man who had been stalking him.

Salazar gasped at the vivid green eyes that looked toward him. _'God, he's beautiful.'_ He noticed the smaller man tense at his staring and tried to come up with something to say. _'Brilliant to yell at him to wait for you and not have anything to say to him. I'm an idiot.'_

Harry crossed his arms and glared. "I don't know what you want, but I don't appreciate being stalked, especially in this alley."

Salazar frowned. Technically, he had been stalking him but he just wanted to find the person he had waited so long for. "Please. Can we just talk?"

Harry let out a slightly bitter laugh. "No one wants to 'just talk'. Well, not in my experience. So sorry, whoever you are, but I do not believe your so-called intentions to 'just talk'. Plus, you've ruined my shopping experience." Harry sighed; he would have to plan another shopping trip to get the rest of the things he needed. Maybe a different country's magical community would be better if he was gaining stalkers here in Britain.

Salazar watched unhappily as his equal pulled out a seashell – one of his estate portkeys - and disappeared. _'Damn. I didn't even get his name.'_ A grin slowly spread on his face. _'Ah, I may not know his name but I know someone who does.'_

Salazar slowly trekked back to Gringotts. If the goblins didn't want him to withdraw his significant amount of business, they had better 'accidentally' let slip the young man's name. Half-an-hour later, Salazar made his way back to the Knockturn Alley bookstore. He wanted every single book with the name of his equal – Harry Potter.

**Potter Villa**

**Somewhere on Italy's southeast coast**

Harry landed as clumsily as usual and glanced up at his home. It was right on the beach and its privacy charms meant that everyone was kept out of the ocean a half-mile off his beach. The villa itself had a peaceful and relaxing feel to it despite its massive three-story size. Harry walked inside, chuckling when the floor inside the door magically absorbed the beach sand – that would help keep things tidy.

He was startled when a house elf popped right in front of him. The elf bowed to him.

"Hello, young master. My name is Snilpy. Welcome to Potter Villa. Is there anything I can get for you?"

Harry tilted his head confused. This elf didn't sound anything like Dobby or Winky. Maybe those two just had 'issues'. He shrugged his thoughts away and smiled at the elf. "Yes, thank you. Please show me where the master bedroom is. Oh, and if it hasn't been done since my parents were last here, change out the mattress and linings for new ones. There are things that are just too weird for me to think about."

The elf nodded led Harry up to the third floor, reassuring him that the mattress and coverings had been changed in preparation for his inheritance. Snilpy walked to the last door on the west side of the third floor and turned the knob, beckoning Harry into the room.

Harry looked around, very pleased with the room. He had a feeling it would be very fancy due to how the rest of the house had looked on the trek to the master bedroom. He could see a door that opened to a large bathroom on one side of the room and another door he assumed led to a closet. Harry walked over to a sturdy desk that was sitting near a smaller bookshelf and pulled out his parcels.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Harry turned to Snilpy who was waiting in the doorway. "No thank you, Snilpy. I'm a bit tired so I'll head to bed now. But in the morning, I may need someone to show me how to work the bathtub before breakfast. Also, sometime tomorrow I'd like both a tour of the house and I'd like to meet all the staff.

The elf nodded before shutting the bedroom door.

Harry, exhausted as he was, managed to use his magic to put up all the additional wards he could think of on the property before he flopped into the bed and promptly fell asleep. He didn't even bother changing his clothes – with or without magic.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_A Night Like This_ by Professional Murder Music

**A/N 1: **The first question I had was about how the elves could be intelligent but choose to hide it. I think they don't hide it really, but most of the people who believe that wizards are better than elves also assume that they are stupid. Either that or they just don't care enough about them to think about how intelligent they are. As thought by Harry in this chapter though, Dobby and Winky have some issues.

**A/N 2:** Another thing that was brought up was that if Salazar was older than Armina, he would technically be the heir of Slytherin. Armina is the older one, but both Tom Riddle and Salazar have claim as an heir of Slytherin. The issue over the family line will probably come up when Salazar confronts the Dark Lord though, so I'll discuss it more then.

**A/N 3:** The Dursleys will be dealt with. Oh yes; they will. Haven't decided the specifics yet, but it won't be pretty.

**A/N 4:** Another house elf. No candy bar inspired name this time though, as the name Milky Way seemed a bit much, haha.

**A/N 5:** I put that Salazar still needs to ask about the doorway because he doesn't want to gain unwanted attention (at the moment) doing strong magical feats in front of others. It wasn't much of a big deal in this case because he was the only one at the doorway in the middle of the night. Also, he had to find the new doorway because he didn't want to destroy any wards or interfere with the magic of the alleyway by just creating a door where he wanted.


	7. Beneath My Skin

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Another chapter that's more information-loaded than entertaining, I'm afraid. Next chapter is better in that regards – promise.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 6 – Beneath My Skin**

Harry slowly woke, turning his head and burying it in the soft pillow in an effort to get more sleep. Still being awake after a few minutes, he gave up on the fruitless endeavor and sat up. He rubbed his eyes before groggily casting a clock spell.

'_Wow. It's almost noon. I guess all the magic I used yesterday tired me more than I thought. That mental torture the old bastard put me through also might have something to do with it.'_ Harry scoffed and finally crawled out of bed. As soon as his feet touched the floor, Snilpy popped into the room, startling Harry.

Snilpy bowed. "Good morning, master. Did you sleep well?"

Harry smiled lightly. "Good morning, Snilpy. The bed was very comfortable and that might have been the best sleep I've ever had – thank you. I think I'm ready to learn how to work all the fancy things that are likely in the bathroom."

Snilpy nodded and led Harry into the bathroom. It was as fancy as Harry had imagined, but at least it was smaller than the Prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts. There was only so much luxuriousness he could take before it started to seem like overkill. The things that drew his eyes first were a large tub that would probably have the water up to his shoulders and a two-person shower with at least a dozen showerheads.

After a few minutes, Harry had learned how to work the nozzle-selection and temperature for the shower. He then learned from Snilpy that the tub was pretty much like a regular muggle one – just deeper and with buttons for jets, bubbles, and relaxation oils.

"I think I need the relaxation of a bath today, Snilpy. Could you please have lunch ready for me in about an hour? Also, I'll need someone to show me to the dining room when it's ready."

Snilpy bowed in confirmation and popped out of the room.

Harry started the bath filling and stripped down. Once the clothes were removed, the garments transformed back into the hospital gown they had once been. _'Hmm. Good thing I bought clothes. I guess the transformations don't hold once they are off. Still, it's good enough for an emergency.'_

After a forty-five minute bath (using those wonderful jets), Harry emerged from the bathroom clad in a towel. He found the packages from yesterday and picked out the one from Twilfit & Tatting's. He opened the doors to the closet and set the shrunken shopping bag in the middle. He enlarged the bag and began sending clothes flying to various areas of the massive closet; the clothes were also enlarging as they left the bag, having been shrunk individually so they would all fit in a single bag. After the last piece of clothing flew into place, Harry began to pick out clothing to wear. He pulled out a simple black silk shirt and some matching wool slacks. After grabbing some black silk boxers, he went back into his bedroom and set the clothes on the bed. He dried off with the towel and dressed.

'_I shall never wear boxers made from anything other than silk again. Man, these feel nice.'_ Harry chuckled to himself before heading into the bathroom. _'Time to try and tame the hair. I'm tempted to cut it for simplicity, but it actually stays flat this way.' _Harry spent a good ten minutes drying and brushing through his hair. Just as he finished, Snilpy popped in next to him.

"Lunch is ready, master. I will show you to the dining room when you are ready."

Harry nodded and put the brush down before following Snilpy out of the room. They went to a dining room on the second floor and he did his best to memorize the way there. Harry sat down in front of a place setting that was laid out for him. Various French and British foods were on plates and bowls on the table nearby; these elves seemed to be similar to the ones at Hogwarts in that they prepared more food than anyone could eat.

Harry glanced at the house elf. "There's no way I could eat all this, but I plan to try. Please let the other elves know that I'd like to talk to them one at a time after my lunch. I'll leave it up to you to organize in what order they come. After that, I'd like a complete tour of the place."

Snilpy nodded in confirmation. "Would you like to have a newspaper delivered? We don't have it sent when no one is here and we didn't know if you would like one or not."

Harry tilted his head. He wanted to be left alone but also thought it might be a good idea to at least not be left in the dark or ignorant. "Yes, I'd like it delivered. Get _The Prophet _and the most reliable ones from other places around Europe. I want to see the news from various perspectives."

"Very well. I'll send owls out for subscriptions to _The Prophet_, _Wizarding Globe_, and _Owl Oracle_. I'll also send an elf out to get today's issues. Is there anything else?"

Harry shook his head and Snilpy vanished. Harry then proceeded to help himself to the fabulous meal.

**Meanwhile at Slytherin Château**

"Dammit! The wizarding world is completely ridiculous! Setting up a child to defeat a Dark Lord?" Salazar ran his hands through his unkempt hair and huffed out a breath. He had finally finished reading the last of the information on Harry that the books he had bought provided and he was not happy with what he had read.

'_Calm down, calm down,' _he thought._ 'Argh - the wizarding world is full of idiots who hide behind a child to kill one person when there are enough of them to easily take him out if they would just work together. I guess I understand the meaning behind what he said last night about someone always wanting something more from him.'_

Salazar tilted his head as he contemplated of something. The books didn't really say more than the facts. Harry Potter was one when his parents were killed, he survived a killing curse that somehow killed Voldemort instead, and he disappeared after that night until he started Hogwarts. After that, the books disagreed on exactly what occurred during his first few years at the school; however, they did all agree that Harry was in the Tri-Wizard Tournament during which another contender was killed. Only the newer books stated the circumstances as to how the young man died – he had been killed during the return of Voldemort.

Besides these facts, the book didn't include anything about Harry. Where was he during those ten years he was missing from the wizarding world? What was his favorite color? What were his interests? What foods did he love or hate? What were his views on various issues? The last one was the key question that he didn't find answers to in any of the books. If Harry was supposed to have close to the same ideals as Salazar (as the spell Slytherin performed to find his equal should guarantee), then Harry didn't hold the same views as the Light. That upset Salazar the most as it meant that they either gave Harry no choice in fighting for their side, pushed their ideals onto him and pressured or guilted him to fight, or just manipulated him into it – maybe a combination of the three. He needed someone who knew Harry better than most.

Salazar brightened as he got an idea. "Twixny!"

Twixny popped into the study where Salazar had spent the night reading. "Yes, master?"

"Twixny, I had found out who my equal is. I'm sure you know Harry Potter."

The elf's eyes widened. "We elves know of him very well. He is one of the few who knew where the Hogwarts kitchens resided and he always was very polite to us. He even helped a house elf who was being abused get freed."

Salazar laughed out loud at the idea. _'He sounds like quite the mischief-maker.'_

"Do you know much personal information about him?"

"Most of us only know basic information. The elf that would likely know most is Dobby, the one he freed. Unfortunately, Dobby is not like most elves. He was abused and his education neglected by his old masters. His speech is lesser and his reasoning is sometimes odd. He would likely take your interest in Harry as a threat and would react negatively."

Salazar sighed. "Very well. I won't take the risk of asking him then. Please tell me what you do know."

The elf told him of the elves knew about his life in Hogwarts. Twixny explained that Harry was always friendly to anyone except the Slytherin, though it mostly seemed to be defensive on his part. He told Salazar of what was known of Harry's various trials and adventures within the castle. The elves had also seen Harry on his own and outcast from the others the past school year. Twixny relayed what he knew of the wizard's preferred foods and the ones that never touched his plate.

After the elf finished, Salazar tilted his head in thought before narrowing his eyes. "Yesterday, you mentioned that the headmaster had whispered about sacrifices. You believe the main one is Harry, don't you?"

Twixny nodded sadly. "Yes. The headmaster seems to believe Harry has to be the one to defeat the Dark Lord. His actions lately seem to suggest he doesn't care about the risk to Harry."

Salazar growled. _'Well, there is no way I'm joining with someone who tried to use my equal as some kind of discardable weapon. Looks like it's up to me to straighten out this Dark Lord. If he refuses to listen, I might have to make a side of my own or just escape with Harry 'til everything blows over.'_

"Thank you for telling me about Harry. Now, where is that list of improvements I need to make to update my home?"

Twixny handed Salazar a long scroll of changes needed to bring the chateau up-to-date.

'_Damn,'_ he thought. _'This is going to take all day and a lot of magic. Oh well. Better get started.'_

**Back at Potter Villa**

Harry had just finished the tour of the home given by Susdey, one of the ten house elves Snilpy had introduced him to. The first floor was mostly dedicated for use of balls or for when there were a lot of guests. That floor contained a ballroom, immense dining room and kitchen, sitting room, music room, conservatory, and a couple of powder rooms. The second floor had a smaller kitchen and dining room for more informal meals, a large study, an immense library, an informal sitting room, several guest rooms, and the lodgings for the house elves. The third floor was dedicated solely to family and was taken up by two playrooms, a smaller music room, an art room, and a lot of large bedrooms. Harry was also informed that there was a boathouse at the pier on the back of the property.

Harry dismissed Susdey to prepare dinner and walked downstairs to the dining room. He picked up the copy of The Prophet that had been sent for.

"Damn." Harry read about the wards falling at St. Mungo's. _'I didn't mean for those to fall. The last thing I want is muggles finding out about us. I'll have to work on controlling my magic. The old fool really makes me lose my temper though.'_

Harry finished reading the article and was surprised he wasn't named as the one who caused the ruckus at the hospital. It wasn't even mentioned that he had taken himself out of the war or vanished. _'Skeeter must be sick or something. But it's only a matter of time before it gets to the papers.'_

Harry set aside the paper to eat the dinner that had come. He needed to finish his previously interrupted shopping tomorrow – better to get it done before there was a search out for him.

**Slytherin Château**

Salazar ate dinner, starved due to all the energy he had used up changing the castle. He used the most magic updating the bathrooms to modern standards. He also had to update some things he were told were ancient in style and also had to fix or replace a few things that he either forgot to protect with an impervious spell or had been damaged after the spell had worn off.

After dinner, Salazar was going to take a nice, long bath in his new bathtub and then pass out from exhaustion. Tomorrow, he was going to visit his last relative.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Constant Craving_ by k.d. lang

**A/N: **I didn't have Harry cast a 'Tempus' spell because it wasn't in the Lexicon. I want to say it was in the books, but that just might be all the fanfictions I've read influencing me. So, for now, he just cast a clock spell. After I reread the books, if Tempus is actually stated as a spell, I'll change it. Or if anyone knows for sure where it is in the books so I can confirm, I'll change it then.


	8. Wasn't Real All Along

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Updates will be coming farther apart from now on for the most part. I've passed the stage in the story where I had most of the details worked out. Now that I only have a vague sense of where I want each chapter to go, it takes me longer to flesh out all the conversations and other details. This may change if I get an epiphany on how I want the story to be.

I'm also considering a spin-off of this story in which the first few chapters are the same as this one, but Harry will be sent to the past instead of Salazar being in the present. I have no idea how the story would progress though so if I decide to do that spin-off, I would wait until I had at least some clue on where to take it.

Also, I think this is the first time Parseltongue is used. It is formatted like this – _**"Parseltongue parseltongue parseltongue."**_

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 7 – Wasn't Real All Along**

Salazar awoke late the next morning due to the previous day's magical exhaustion combined with no sleep the night before. He quickly got out of bed and went to go take a quick shower (he had no idea how he lived without indoor plumbing all those years). While showering, he made a mental list of things he needed to get done that day.

The first priority was his meeting with this Dark Lord, Voldemort. Depending on how things went there and how long it took, his next priority was clothes shopping. Seeing the clothes in the window at Twilfit and Tatting's the other night was enough visual evidence that his wardrobe needed updating if he wanted to blend in. If Salazar managed to complete these tasks, he would then use his magic to try and locate Harry. He was saving this task for last though, as it would require a lot of energy and wasn't even guaranteed to work – especially if the young man was behind a strong ward again.

Finishing in the shower, Salazar dried off as he made his way to his closet. Most of his clothes were very out-of-date; only a few robes, a pair of boots, and some costly silk pieces would survive his wardrobe update. Salazar pulled out a silk tunic, some linen leggings, a green wool robe, and some leather boots. After getting dressed, he used his magic to update the clothing he wore to 'passable' and headed to the dining room.

The elves had a late breakfast ready for him. There were a ton of new foods for Salazar to try along with some old standbys in case he didn't like them. After trying most things - rejecting some and taking his fill of others - Salazar stood from the table.

"Twixny!"

The house elf popped in and bowed. "Yes, master?"

Salazar told the elf his plans to talk to Voldemort and get clothing. Twixny informed her master about the best way to locate the Dark Lord and how to gain an audience with him. She also told him the closest magical shopping areas, plus where and how to access them. It was then that Twixny also informed her master about how to tap the bricks on the wall to Diagon Alley.

"Thank you for the information. Speaking of, I discovered about newspapers in the books I read. Please make sure I get a more reliable one delivered from now on please."

Twixny bowed and popped out.

Salazar stretched a little before heading to the front door. From Twixny's information, he would need to head to Malfoy Manor.

**Potter Villa**

Harry folded the last newspaper and sighed in relief. There hadn't been anything about his involvement in recent events printed yet, so he could keep today's plans to finish shopping. After setting down the newspaper, he finished the last bit of bacon on his plate before standing up.

"Snilpy!"

The male house elf popped in. 'Yes, master?"

"I need to finish shopping. I've never been anywhere besides magical London for said purpose though, and that place isn't an option. Any suggestions?"

"The best locations for shopping besides London would be Paris and Venice." The house elf then told Harry how to access the magical districts of each city.

"Hmm. I'd really love to visit the underwater shopping alleys of Venice, but Paris is safer. If anyone sees me, I'd rather them spend time searching France and other countries first. Before I go, is there anything the house elves need or the home needs that I should know about?"

"If you plan to use the Floo network, then you'll need some powder to do so. Any furniture or decorations you wish to purchase must be done by you as well. The house elves take care of everything else."

Harry nodded and headed to the front door. It was time to go shopping.

**Malfoy Manor**

**Wiltshire, England**

Lucius was currently penning a letter to send to all the newspapers in Europe. He had informed Voldemort of the events in the hospital a few hours after it had happened. The Dark Lord wasn't sure whether to be happy Potter was out of the way, pissed that the boy had threatened him and his followers, or pissed and wary that he had become quite powerful – more powerful than himself, even. Voldemort had dismissed Lucius to think over his plans.

This morning, the Dark Lord had informed Lucius that they would ignore Harry for now. He did, however, want Malfoy to anonymously inform the wizarding world of Harry's abandonment of the Light. It should cause support of the other side to suffer and would also take some attention off of his own doings. Maybe with attention focused on Potter, Voldemort could step up his plans to take over the Ministry.

Malfoy finished the letter and called in a house elf. He ordered the elf to deliver copies of the letter using untraceable owls to every wizarding newspaper, magazine, and radio station. As the house elf disappeared, he felt a tingle in the wards informing him of a visitor.

Lucius stood and brushed his clothing out as he walked towards the formal sitting room where all his guests were brought to. He sat down in one of the wingback chairs and waited. A few minutes passed before a wide-eyed and very nervous elf escorted in a young man. Said man looked very similar in eye-color to his own family, but the hair color was a darker blonde and his facial features weren't as pointed.

The house elf ran off without introducing the unknown man and that same man laughed to himself at the nervousness of the elf. The stranger sat in the chair opposite Lucius without waiting to be asked.

Lucius sneered a little. "Since my servant didn't seem fit to tell me, who are you and what do you want?"

Salazar smirked a little. "Come now, Malfoy. Don't you recognize a fellow Slytherin?"

At Lucius's confused expression, Salazar chuckled and leaned back. "And, as to what I want, I would like you to take me to Voldemort."

In an instant, Lucius had his wand out and pointed at the stranger. "I am unsure what rumors you have heard, sir, but I do not associate with the Dark Lord. Now, I must ask you to leave."

Salazar sighed and stood. He leaned close to Lucius, ignoring the wand trained on him. _**"Oh, but Lucius, I always know the truth from fiction. Take me to him – now!"**_

Lucius pushed his chair back and jumped up, eyes wide. He knew Parseltongue when he heard it. But the only ones he knew of that could speak it were the Dark Lord and Potter. He knew Voldemort would want to meet this man, but he didn't know what this man's motives were.

Lucius calmed himself down and lowered his wand. "Interesting. May I ask why you wish to speak to him? It would not be good for my health to lead someone to the Dark Lord who tries to kill him."

Salazar laughed lightly. "I suppose not. I promise upon my magic that, for today, I only plan to talk to your Lord. I will, however, defend myself should I be attacked first or purposefully provoked."

Lucius thought it over and slowly nodded. "Follow me, then."

Malfoy headed out of the room and Salazar followed behind. They ended up a couple of rooms down from the sitting room where an enormous fireplace resided. Malfoy guided Salazar to stand in the unlit fireplace and grabbed a handful of powder from a nearby pot. He stepped into the fireplace beside the man whose name he still didn't know and grabbed his wrist. After throwing down the powder and yelling 'Snake Hideaway', the two men vanished in a flash of green flames.

**Rue Couture**

**Paris, France**

Harry entered the magical area of Paris from the back door of a bakery. He nibbled on the croissant he had bought – damned bakery smells tempting him. After finishing the pastry and cleaning his fingers, he decided he should get started shopping. He realized he'd have to head to the muggle side of Paris to shop after he finished here, so he needed to get moving.

**Snake Hideaway**

**Unknown Location in North Ireland**

Salazar followed Malfoy through the hallways of the older mansion, both coming to a stop outside a closed door. Inside, a male and female were talking loud enough to be heard by both men. Lucius looked hesitant about interrupting, but he knocked and opened the door without waiting for a reply.

Inside, Voldemort was sitting behind his desk and an upset Bellatrix Lestrange was standing in front of the desk. Both looked pissed off, though it seemed to be evenly split between what they had been talking about and for being interrupted.

Voldemort stood and glared at Lucius once he had caught sight of the stranger. "There had better be a good explanation, Lucius, for you interrupting the conversation and for bringing a stranger here."

"My Lord, I –"

"Malfoy knew you would want to see me," Salazar interrupted. "As to interrupting the conversation, it didn't seem like a good one anyway."

Bella seethed. "Why you little –"

"Hush, Bella." Voldemort glanced back at this stranger. "And why exactly would Lucius assume I would want to see you?"

Salazar smirked. _**"Because, we have similarities."**_

Bellatrix and Voldemort froze. Voldemort slowly sank down into his chair and tilted his head thoughtfully. He then glanced at Bellatrix and Lucius. "Leave us." Bellatrix looked ready to argue, but was pulled out of the room by Malfoy.

"_**Who are you and what do you want?"**_

"_**I am your only relative. The name is Salazar Slytherin."**_

Voldemort scoffed. _**"Don't be ridiculous. For one, only a vampire or wood elf could still be alive after so long, and you are neither."**_

"_**So cynical. You are correct that I am neither of those creatures, but some original magic has kept me in stasis until now."**_

"_**Hmm. I'll believe you if you can tell me a few things."**_

"_**Fine."**_

"_**Very well. Tell me about your hidden chamber at Hogwarts."**_

"_**Hidden? Hmm, it wasn't hidden by me, but I did have my own chambers in the castle below the dungeons. I had a dueling area I used to keep my magic up-to-speed – decorated it with snake statues in honor of the animal I chose for my House at the school. I also added a statue of my father at the end of the dueling room, in which I hid the entrance to my private rooms - including a bedroom and study."**_

Voldemort stared at Salazar a few minutes, contemplating. _**"That was your father?"**_

"_**Yes. Why?"**_

"_**Hmm. Tell me about the snake."**_

"_**What snake?"**_

"_**What do you mean 'what snake'? The basilisk you kept down there."**_

Salazar raised his eyebrows. _**"Why would I keep such a dangerous snake in my private area? I mean, sure I could talk to it and everything, but not all snakes are cooperative. Plus, it could always get loose and hurt the children I worked hard to build the school for."**_

"_**You know, you don't sound like the Salazar Slytherin I learned about."**_

"_**What do you mean?"**_

Voldemort relayed all the information he had learned about Salazar – from promoting pureblood supremacy to vanishing after a fight with Gryffindor.

"_**Fuck! My father must have interfered with the school after I left. I wouldn't doubt he brought the basilisk there either. He did seem to become more fanatic as he got older."**_

Salazar sighed and rubbed his forehead. _'I already have a headache. I haven't even gotten around to talking about the war yet.'_

"_**Listen. I want to talk to you about the war, but I have a feeling it'll make my headache worse. Do you mind if we continue this later?"**_

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. _**"I believe you are who you say you are, but what guarantee do I have you won't give away our location?"**_

"_**Tell you what. Keep my return a secret for now and I'll keep your location secret in exchange."**_

"_**Deal."**_

"_**Also, may I ask what your plans are regarding Harry Potter?"**_

"_**At the moment, we plan to ignore him as long as he doesn't interfere. Why?"**_

"_**Ah, now that is my own secret to keep. I shall visit you within the next week to continue this conversation."**_

Voldemort nodded as Salazar stood._** "I look forward to it."**_

Salazar exited the room and made his way to the entrance he had spotted on the walk from the Floo. Hopefully, shopping would relieve his headache.

**Rue Couture**

Harry was headed back to the bakery. He had finished his magical shopping, getting several items made from dragon hide and acromantula silk along with some items for his beachside villa. He was now on his way to muggle Paris to continue his shopping. He was about fifty feet from the back door of the bakery when it opened.

Harry glanced up at the person and stopped moving. Standing there, staring at Harry and frozen in place, was the same man as the other night – the stalker. The man suddenly smiled brightly and started moving towards him.

Harry frowned and used the people standing around to avoid the man and circle around to the bakery's door. He glanced around and seemed to have lost him in the crowd before darting to the bakery's back door. He turned the knob and pulled the door open slightly.

A hand suddenly pushed the door shut and Harry could feel someone behind him. His magic started to bubble up in both panic and irritation.

Salazar let out a soft sigh as he felt Harry's magic rise. "Please, Harry, just listen to me."

"I told you to leave me alone. I don't want to talk to some stalker!"

Salazar frowned and moved from behind Harry to beside him, leaning on the door to keep Harry from escaping through it. "I apologize if it seems I was stalking you. I admit I was following you the other night. I did only want to talk though. I had no idea you were here today – the wards around this place interfere with tracking methods. I really just came to shop today. But I am glad you are here. Please, can we talk?"

Harry glared a little at the man. The stranger didn't seem so bad, but the magic he felt pouring off of him made him wary. "I'm busy. And nothing you could say would interest me."

Harry then turned and decided he'd escape through one of the Floo fireplaces. Before he could take two steps though, he heard the stranger say a sentence that halted him mid-stride.

"My name is Salazar Slytherin."

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Cloud Nine_ by Evanescence

**A/N 1: **This is just a note to say thanks a lot to the readers. It makes me happy to read the reviews and see the numbers going up of people who have added this story to favorites or alerts. I'm even a favorite author of some people, which boggles my mind considering I only have this one little story posted. Anyway, thanks again!

**A/N 2: **I originally planned to have Salazar and Voldemort talk about the entire war and hash everything out in one sitting. The chapter was getting long though, and I knew I wanted it to end like it did. So, the Salazar/Voldemort conversation will continue in another chapter.

**A/N 3:** I don't think I've directly mentioned this tidbit. Harry no longer wears glasses. When he came into his inheritance, his magic repaired his eyesight. I may go back and add this information into that chapter.


	9. Labor of Love

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Updates will be coming farther apart from now on for the most part. I've passed the stage in the story where I had most of the details worked out. Now that I only have a vague sense of where I want each chapter to go, it takes me longer to flesh out all the conversations and other details. This may change if I get an epiphany on how I want the story to be.

I'm also considering a spin-off of this story in which the first few chapters are the same as this one, but Harry will be sent to the past instead of Salazar being in the present. I have no idea how the story would progress though so if I decide to do that spin-off, I would wait until I had at least some clue on where to take it.

Also, I think this is the first time Parseltongue is used. It is formatted like this – _**"Parseltongue parseltongue parseltongue."**_

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 8 – Labor of Love**

Harry slowly turned around to face his 'stalker'. "You have got to be kidding."

Salazar smiled brightly. "Nope.'

Harry dragged a hand down his face and exhaled, mumbling. "Great. My stalker is completely mental. A very powerful lunatic – hmm, I thought one was plenty. Or does the old fool make it two?"

Salazar frowned. "I can hear you, you know. And I'm not insane. I'll prove it however you like if you'll just talk to me."

Harry lowered his hand and stared long and hard at the man standing in front of him. After a couple of minutes passed, he gave a shrug. "Fine. I think a late lunch would work well. You get to buy since you want to talk so much. Best do it in the wizarding world so we can use secrecy magic. I get the feeling we don't want this conversation overheard."

Salazar nodded. "Yes, secrecy is needed for this conversation. And I would love to buy you lunch, Harry."

Harry frowned. "Let's get this straight. This is not a date; this is me exchanging time and listening for food."

Salazar chuckled. "Very well. You can choose the place."

Harry nodded and turned, heading back to an expensive bistro he had spotted earlier. _'If I'm going to get a meal for free, why not make it count.'_

Salazar followed behind Harry, his eyes drifting down to the new dragon hide pants his equal was wearing. _'God – Harry has such a nice ass. Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Still, he very attractive. I hope he can accept me eventually. I've waited so long.'_

Harry stopped outside of an ornately decorated building with a sign signifying the place as Le Chaudron de D'or. He asked for a table for two and waited patiently. Luckily, the place didn't have too large of a crowd during this time of day so as to make getting a table last-minute impossible. Harry glanced back at his companion (who was, by now, looking higher than Harry's ass). He sighed a little at the way odd things kept happening to him.

The greeter returned and showed them both to a corner table and seated them. After handing them menus, he assured them a waiter would be present soon. Harry glanced at the menu, thanking his lucky starts that he did some self-studying of French in his fourth year due to the students from Beauxbatons. There was only so much French whispering and giggling at said whispers he could take before he broke down and decided to learn it.

A waitress came up to the table and introduced herself before taking their orders. After Salazar ordered his food, Harry did the same - with the addition of a very expensive bottle of wine. Harry smirked across the table to Salazar, but the other was just smiling. He huffed and waited until the waitress had walked away before putting up several silencing and privacy spells. He then leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Might as well get this ball rolling. You said you wanted to talk to me. You can start with proving you are who you say you are."

Salazar nodded and decided to go with the same proof he had used to convince Voldemort.

Harry jumped when the man spoke his first sentence in Parseltongue, but listened carefully to the facts he had given about the man's personal chambers beneath the school. He was pleased to learn that he wasn't who the wizarding world thought he was in terms of personality. He probably would have been more skeptical if he hadn't been performing a light Legilimency, which he knew the other was allowing to guarantee the truth of his words.

They both took a break from conversation when the waitress brought out the bottle of wine and two glasses. This was followed minutes later by ham baguette sandwich and onion soup for Harry, and a dozen oysters and beet salad for Salazar. Both ate quietly - Salazar taking in habits and features of the person opposite him, while Harry was thinking over what he had heard and was forming questions.

Harry finished most of his meal and drank the last of his second glass of wine. "Well, I believe you, I suppose. Now I'd like to know how the hell you wound up over a thousand years old."

Salazar laughed, pushing his plate away. "Technically, I'm only twenty-four." Salazar then explained how and why he had come to be so far past his time. He noticed Harry growing pale when he mentioned his equal and stated how it was determined that Harry fit that role.

Harry groaned and let his head fall to the table. _'Dammit! After all that Fate has thrown my way, now I'm supposed to be romantically destined for Salazar Slytherin? If I ever meet this Fate bitch, I'm going to kill her.'_

Sure, Harry was gay. Despite how hard he tried to be straight to distance himself from his abusive past, he just couldn't deny that girls did nothing for him. The disaster of Cho Chang in fifth year was all the proof he needed in that regard. Salazar was also quite good looking and Harry would even consider dating him if circumstances were different. But Harry was really not looking to date anyone, much less someone who wanted some kind of serious relationship. There was no way he was ready for that after recent events.

Salazar nudged Harry's leg with his foot. "Harry?"

Harry sighed and sat up, pouring himself another glass of wine. "Listen, Salazar. You're cute and all and you seem like a nice guy. But I'm definitely not ready for a romantic relationship, no matter the guy. I have some personal issues to deal with first."

Salazar frowned, the sight of which made Harry a little regretful at turning him down.

"I understand. I don't want to pressure you into anything you aren't ready for. Could we at least try out a friendship though and see if anything progresses from there? My spell-work should have assured we'd have plenty in common."

Harry thought it over, while sipping his wine. "Hmm. That sounds like a decent idea. I have an idea on how we can stay in touch. Sorry, but I don't quite trust you with the locations of my properties yet."

Harry finished off his glass of wine before standing. "You take care of the bill here. I'll be back in a minute."

Salazar grabbed the hem of Harry's shirt, noticing the slight flinch but not commenting on it. "Promise not to run away again?"

Harry smiled a little. "I promise, now that I know you're not just some creepy stalker."

Salazar pouted (yes, pouted). "I am not creepy."

Harry made his way to the door, calling over his shoulder. "You were in ancient clothing in the middle of the night in a notorious alley. You were creepy."

Salazar laughed and signaled the waitress. After paying his tab (tipping generously) and having the remainder of his wine corked, he stood up and stretched.

The conversation he had been wanting to have had been a mixed bag. While Harry had put off romantic development for the time being, he had been open to friendship. Salazar knew that a friendship, if developed right, would likely turn into something romantic. The two just fit each other so well, that the odds were good. Harry had also taken the facts well, though letting him use some Legilimency might have been a major factor in that.

Salazar decided to take one step at a time with Harry and exited the restaurant. He waited outside the building and glanced around at the other businesses. He still had to do some shopping. Maybe he could convince Harry to join him.

Speaking of Harry, Salazar saw him headed in his direction. Harry held up a bag to Salazar, giving a soft smile. Salazar peeked inside the bag and saw a small ornate hinged box.

"It's for letters. I have a matching one and it is connected to yours. We write each other a letter and stick it in the box. It'll show up in the other's box. Wards don't interfere with the box's magic. This way, we can communicate with each other easily."

Salazar beamed. "Oh, like Travel Boxes."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What are those?"

"They don't sell Travel Boxes anymore? Oh. Well, there used to be these really large cabinet boxes that were sold in pairs. They were mostly used by richer families with multiple homes. It was an easy way to travel from one home to another."

"Hmm. Sounds like a great idea. If I can't find anyone who still makes them, I'll try and see if there's any information on how they were made. Maybe I'll make some myself if need be."

Salazar nodded. "Say Harry. I was wondering if you would like to come shopping with me. As you can guess, most of my wardrobe is outdated."

Harry gave an apologetic smile. "I would, but I have my own errands to run. But I can give some advice."

Salazar frowned a little that he wouldn't get to spend more time with Harry. "Oh?"

"You look great in green. Grey, black, and blue would probably look good on you too. And every young gay wizard needs some dragon hide pants. I know you appreciated them earlier."

Salazar laughed. "Indeed, I did. Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to you, Harry. I'll write to you soon."

Harry gave a small smile. "See you later, Salazar."

With that, Harry turned and headed back towards the bakery that served as the gateway between wizarding Paris and muggle Paris. Salazar watched him until those dragon hide pants disappeared into the crowd. Clutching the bag Harry had given him protectively, Salazar set off for a long afternoon of shopping.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Private Universe _by Crowded House

**A/N 1: **I got a good question about the lack of Harry's wand. When Harry arrived at Privet Drive for the summer, all his magical stuff was locked away by his uncle. So, he is not using it to cast spells and doesn't really need it (but the issue of his wand will reappear when he goes for his revenge on them). Salazar doesn't use a wand either and he will address this in his talk with Voldy.

**A/N 2:** This chapter was shorter than the others. I could have made it longer by going into more detail in the Sal/Harry conversation. I didn't though because I don't want to repeat stuff that's already been said.

**A/N 3:** God, I wish the mail notifications were fixed already. Blah!

**A/N 4:** Since starting this chapter, a new story has popped into my head that has been dying to be written. I'm only in the starting phases of deciding key plot points, but I'm pretty sure this story is going to take a backseat to the new one for a little while. I'll still be working on this one when I can, but it won't be a priority until I run out of steam on the new one. I know a lot of people love this story, so I will do my best to update it as much as I can while my focus is mostly elsewhere.

Also, my version of slowing down is to update this at least once a month (that's the plan, anyway) as opposed to once or twice a week like I have been doing.


	10. I Set My Sights on You

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **A new chapter! This took me as long as it did because of the two-week holiday in WoW (I'm a gamer chick– shush). I have the prologue done for my new story, but that's all I got around to doing due to the same reason this chapter took so long.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 9 – I Set My Sights on You**

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Salazar had a major shock. When he picked up the newspaper, the headline on the front page immediately drew him into the article.

_**BOY-WHO-LIVED LEAVES LIGHT**_

_On the morning of July 31__st__, it was reported that the well-known wizarding hospital of St. Mungo's experienced some damage to the building in addition to losing the wards protecting the hospital from being seen by muggles. At the time, the hospital could not identify the cause of the incident, but an anonymous letter to the various news outlets of the wizarding world has apparently solved the mystery._

_It seems that young Harry Potter was brought to St. Mungo's a number of days before the incident. The Hospital staff refused to disclose the reason why he was brought there, but it __has__ leaked that his memory had suffered as a result of his injuries. What happened next, according to our source, surprised me and many of my colleagues._

_According to the anonymous source, 'Leader of the Light' Albus Dumbledore forced young Harry to drink an illegal potion that made his memory return. The potion, named Remember All, is banned due to its extremely high probability of driving the one who consumes it insane from reliving so many memories within a minute's time._

_The unidentified source states that they saw Albus Dumbledore enter the room and forced another person, whom the informant refused to name for that person's own protection, to give Harry Potter the potion as he slept. During the minute of mental torture that the potion put the savior through, his screams of pain could be heard through most of the hospital, which was confirmed by several staff members and patients. At the same time, it seems that Harry's magic lashed out, breaking windows throughout the hospital._

_Once the minute had passed, our source states that Harry appeared to be quite sane, though angry at Albus Dumbledore who had put him through the torture of the potion. From the conversation that passed between the two, it seems that Mr. Potter did not have a happy upbringing like most of the wizarding world has been led to believe and the Light forced him to stay in this negative environment. Harry also stated that the Light saw him as a weapon to destroy You-Know-Who and not as a human. Mr. Potter finally stated that he was removing himself from the war and that the wizarding world could save itself. He warned, though, that members of both the dark and light sides of the war would be dealt with should they try and interfere with his life._

_As the Boy-Who-Lived left the hospital, he decided the give a final warning about his power and those who would cross him. The result was the further damage to the hospital and the falling of the wards when young Mr. Potter apparated directly from his room - a feat previously thought impossible._

_If the information the source has provided to us is accurate, then this reporter fully supports Harry Potter's decision. Who would want to fight for a side that has made most of his life unhappy, put him in danger of insanity, and used him as a weapon against You-Know-Who from childhood?_

_As you read this article, the staff of St. Mungo's is checking its records of magic done in Mr. Potter's hospital room. If it is found that Albus Dumbledore was in fact in the room that night, then the Light might be in even more trouble. But can the Light be considered 'light' when it gives potions that mentally torture children and uses them to fight dark lords?_

Salazar rubbed his head and set the paper down. If the contents of the story were true, it explained the surge of energy that woke him. It also gave Salazar some insight on to where Harry stood in regards to the war, as well as gave some possible clues as to what issues Harry had mentioned that he had to deal with before starting a relationship.

Salazar brought the newspaper upstairs to his bedroom and sat at his desk. He gathered a parchment and quill and started a letter to Harry.

_Harry,_

_I read the story in the _Wizarding Globe_ newspaper today and I was wondering how accurate it was. I mostly ask because we didn't have time to discuss our own views on certain issues. I know you likely aren't ready to divulge any personal details as hinted at in the article, but I would really like to get together to discuss a lot of other things. Doing so will help us learn more about each other and could catch me up on some things I've missed in the last thousand years. Please let me know if you are open to meeting._

_Yours truly,_

_Salazar Slytherin_

Salazar read over the letter before sealing and placing it in his half of the matching mail box set that Harry had given him yesterday. Not knowing how long it would take Harry to answer, Salazar decided to go to his library to read one of the magical history books he had bought a few nights ago.

**Potter Villa**

Harry stepped out of the bathroom while drying his hair. He had slept in late again due to the exhaustion that a whole day of shopping created. He noticed the mail box on his desk had the image of a letter hovering above it.

Harry smiled softly as he remembered the odd events of yesterday. Salazar was interesting and cute. Harry hoped the friendship between them went well. If he didn't have so many issues with privacy, sex, and trust then he might have agreed to date the man. Harry decided he needed to talk to a professional, so he made a mental note to himself to find a muggle therapist (no way was he trusting anyone in the wizarding world not to find a way to blab).

Harry dressed before opening up the mail box and removing the letter. He brought it downstairs and set it by the trio of newspapers to read after breakfast. Harry ate his delicious and hearty meal before opening the letter.

The contents confused him slightly, so he decided to pick up the _Wizarding Globe_ newspaper to read. After finishing with that paper, he set it down and checked over the other two. The stories featured in them about the St. Mungo's incident were much the same and were pretty accurate. _'Must be either Lucius or Snape,'_ he thought.

Harry went back upstairs and composed a reply.

_Salazar,_

_I will confirm that the story in the paper is mostly accurate. My guess is that the anonymous writer to the news organizations would be Severus Snape or Lucius Malfoy. Both of them were there that night and are the only ones who could know so many details, besides myself and Dumbledore. I would love to meet with you again to discuss many things we didn't have a chance to talk about last time – our likes and dislikes, our dreams for the future, families, and political views (which I normally avoid, but feel I could talk to you about them freely). I would suggest we meet today, but I have plans to visit my other estates and set them in order. I will be free tomorrow though, so let me know if that works for you. Also, we will likely have to meet somewhere in the muggle world, because the wizarding one will be full of people searching for me. I don't want to have to spend the entire time either avoiding people or having to use a glamour._

_Until then,_

_Harry Potter_

Harry tossed the letter in the mail box and went to his dresser. He grabbed all the other portkeys the goblins had given him earlier in the week and stuffed them in various pockets. But first on today's agenda would be finding that therapist. And to do that, he would have to go to one of those muggle computer labs and do some research on highly recommended professionals.

Harry headed downstairs and out the villa. Once he made it past the wards, he apparated to a location he was sure had what he needed – Manchester, England.

**Slytherin Château**

Salazar stretched as he walked from his library to his bedroom. The book he had read was about the history of the witch burnings throughout the years. It just further solidified his views that the muggle and wizarding worlds should be separated.

Salazar peeked into his bedroom and smiled brightly when he saw that Harry had written him a reply. He went to his desk and opened the mail box before reading the letter. Salazar smiled at the positive response to his request and thought about his reply for a few minutes before he finally set quill to parchment.

_Harry,_

_Tomorrow would be great for our discussion. I am worried about your request to meet in the muggle world though. I crossed upon the muggle area of London the night I first saw you and it overwhelmed me. I don't think I could handle something like that again right away. Maybe if we meet in a park or near a farm or something, it would be much easier to handle. Because of my worry about somewhere very populated, I suggest we meet sometime after lunch, around 1p.m. or so, thus eliminating the need to find something to eat should our chat run long._

_Sincerely,_

_Salazar Slytherin_

Salazar placed the letter in the box and decided that Harry had the right idea. He hadn't yet visited all the estates left to him over the thousand years he had been in stasis. Some of them were likely falling apart and needed to be torn down, sold, or repaired. The ones in better condition likely had staff that he needed to introduce himself to.

Gathering his handful of portkeys, Salazar headed to the edge of his wards before apparating away.

**Manchester, England**

Harry stepped out of building of the third therapist on his list of potentials that he had created from his research at the computer lab. The first therapist was booked solid for years ahead of time and the second had an aura that screamed 'fake personality' to Harry. He felt he struck gold with this last one though.

The therapist was a woman he thought to be near fifty who reminded him of a mix between a female best friend and what he imagined his mother would be like. While she had a busy schedule, she could still make time for Harry to start sessions in a few days. She had given Harry the hope that he could, over time, put his past behind him.

Harry walked a few blocks before slipping into an alleyway. He apparated to his villa and headed up to his bedroom. He noticed that Salazar had sent him a letter, so he removed it from the box and read it.

Harry thought about possible locations to meet Salazar that the other would be comfortable with. He smiled as he remembered a park he had gone to on a primary school trip. He opened the window that was above his desk and summoned a leaf from a nearby tree. When the leaf arrived in his hand, he concentrated on the location of the park and turned the leaf into a portkey. That done, Harry sat down to write back to Salazar.

_Salazar,_

_It is understandable that you are wary of the muggle world with how much it has changed. Maybe I could help you catch up to some degree. Until then, I remembered a park that would be perfect for tomorrow's meeting. I've included a portkey which is activated by the word 'nature'. Meeting at 1p.m. would work perfectly. I look forward to seeing you then._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry_

Harry tossed the letter in the box and went downstairs for lunch. He didn't know how long visiting the other properties would take, so he wanted to grab some food before he delved into them.

**Later that Night**

**Slytherin Château**

Salazar tiredly made his way upstairs. Most of the properties he had visited had to have the buildings torn down. These houses had been left to him centuries ago and the dying off of the house elves that came with the property had resulted in homes decayed beyond saving (or at least not worth the energy and magic needed to restore them). He wanted to search through them for anything salvageable, but he'd need sturdier clothing and some house elf help for that. After the buildings were to be torn down, most of the properties they came on would be stripped of magical properties and sold. Some of them, he would keep to perhaps build a new home on.

Besides the ruined houses, there was one still in good condition in Switzerland due to the house elves that came with it still being alive and taking care of the property. After bonding with the elves of the home and making sure all things were in working order, he gave them instructions to continue the upkeep and to contact him should anything need his attention.

There were two more properties that were in fair condition. The house elves of both of those homes had passed on, but the buildings hadn't fall into total ruin yet. He tossed some preservation charms on what he could and would deal with fixing them up and getting them staffed later.

Salazar cheered up a little when he entered his room and saw the letter image hovering above his mail box. He read the letter and smiled. _'If Harry teaches me about the new stuff in the muggle world, it means we can spend more time together. I am very much looking forward to seeing him again.'_

Salazar set the letter and leaf portkey on his desk and changed into some sleep clothes. Feeling exhausted, he climbed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record)_ by Dead or Alive

**A/N 1: **The fact that this was my first fanfiction ever was mentioned. As a matter of fact, this is my second fanfiction ever. The first was done years ago, had short chapters, had a messy plot, wasn't updated in over a year, was never going to be finished, and was written for someone else who I no longer like. So I ended up deleting it.

This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction and my first slash fanfiction. Hopefully, when I get to the slashyness, I can do alright with writing it.

**A/N 2: **Some people are asking for longer chapters. Sorry, but this is about as long as it gets. I can go a max of about 3,000 words before I run out of steam for each chapter. I worship the writers who can do 10-15k chapters, but I am not one of them.

**A/N 3:** Conversation between Sal and Voldy is coming soon. Promise. I just want Harry and Sal to discuss the issues first though because I want Sal to have Harry's viewpoint in mind when he talks to Voldemort.

**A/N 4:** I originally wrote that Harry started his search for a therapist in Milano, Italy. Then I realized that Harry would have to know another language to work the computer. I thought French and English was enough for him to know at this point in the story (he might learn Italian later, since his main home is there). I also couldn't have him go to London, as it would be a prime muggle location for some wizards (a.k.a. the press) to be searching for him.

**A/N 5: **You may be asking why Salazar wants to learn about the muggle world if he wants it separated from the magical world. Well, he feels it is important to learn both the muggle and wizarding history he missed. He also thinks it wise to know what the muggle world is capable of. There would also be circumstances that could bring a wizard into the muggle world, such as searching for a criminal, finding gifts, etc. He's just being prepared. I might delve more on it in his conversations with Harry and Voldy.


	11. Know Who I Am

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other character & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **I've started to hit a barrier when it comes to this story. I know where it's going to some degree, but I've preferred to spend my time on the new one I'm doing. I'm not abandoning it or anything though, so no worries. I still plan to keep myself to the 'at least one update a month' policy I set earlier.

For those curious about the new story, I am torn on whether to hold back on posting what I've written until this story is finished, or publishing it alongside this story. I've posted a poll in my profile for those who would like to sway my decision (or to amuse me until I decide on my own).

Also, I've been hit with an even newer Harry/OMC(sorta) that has been nagging at my brain. When will brain-to-computer transfer technology be readily available? I think it might be the only way to get all these ideas from my mind into story form.

Man, I should really come up with some short story or one-shot ideas instead of all these many-chaptered ones. Blah!

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 10 – Know Who I Am**

Harry groaned as he rolled over, cursing a bit as doing so made the morning light land across his face. The second half of the previous day had been a little rough. Taking several portkeys in one afternoon would have been enough to make him miserable, but that was only the start.

_**~Flashback~**_

Harry knew from his talk with the goblins that while most of the homes were from the Potter line (from both his parents and grandparents), several were left from Sirius. He decided to visit the Potter homes first and found that they were all in good working order. However, touring the homes, being introduced to the staff, and bonding with the house elves of those homes drained him a bit. At the last Potter house, he decided to take a break before he moved on to the Black homes as he didn't know what to expect from those. The house elves feed him dinner, which helped him regain some energy. As he exited the last Potter home he had been given a portkey to, he dreaded what was lurking ahead.

The first two properties left to him by Sirius were in fairly good shape and didn't resemble the Black persona that was evident at Grimmauld Place. Harry figured that these were properties that Sirius had gotten on his own as opposed to being inherited from his family. These homes had only a couple of house elves, so bonding with them didn't take too much of his energy. The other two homes left to him by Sirius were a different story though.

The next house was a huge castle-like home that radiated so much dark energy that Harry refused to step inside. Maybe he could get Salazar to come with him here when they were closer friends – God knows Harry wasn't going in such a creepy place by himself and Sal likely knew more about potential dangers lying about. He beckoned any house elves from outside, but figured the lack of response meant that they had died out or been moved to other Black homes (or been eaten by things lurking inside the home).

Harry took the last portkey and where it took him surprised him as he ended up landing on the front step of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. He shouldn't really have been so shocked since he was Sirius's heir and the property had belonged to the man. The fact that the Order had been using it for so long had just put this fact out of his mind.

With a dark smile, Harry had made sure no one was currently in the house before stepping inside. He magically tossed out the belongings of every order member, remembering to place an anti-muggle ward around the pile of junk so no muggles came across the magical items. He then tossed up powerful wards around the home and warded the Floo-connected fireplace to keep the Order members out for good.

Kreacher watched, silent and fidgety from the shadows. Kreacher knew that the wizard present had hated him for his deception about his previous master, but he had noticed that the 'light' boy wizard had become a powerful 'grey' adult wizard. Where he had been previously dead-set against serving him, he was now unsure – after all, his favorite master, Regulus Black, had been more grey than dark.

Harry glanced over to the shadows Kreacher was lurking in and silently beckoned the elf to him. He watched as the house elf slowly obeyed, seeming very nervous and unsure. When the elf finally stood in front of him, Harry said just one word.

"Why?"

Kreacher tugged at his pitiful clothing. "I did not know Master Sirius would be hurt. I was only told that I needed to trick you to bring honor to the Black name. Sirius was always bringing the Black name through the dirt. He also kept saying horrible things about Master Regulus and Mistress Walburga, who always treated me well."

Harry let out a sigh. He had seen how Sirius had treated Kreacher and figured a couple of years of that, plus the lack of knowledge of what the elf was actually doing by deceiving Harry, was enough of a reason to give the elf a chance – he doubted forgiveness would come as easily.

"Very well, Kreacher. I shall give you a chance. For the next month, I want you to try and return this house to its former glory. If there is anything you cannot do on your own, such as massive repairs or dark creatures you come across, let me know and I'll either come take care of it or I'll send you help in the form of extra house elves. I also want you to clean yourself up and make yourself some new uniforms. If you take the restoring of the home and yourself to heart, I believe we will be able to coexist peacefully."

Kreacher looked relieved and nodded enthusiastically at the instructions he had been given. "I shall get cleaning right away, Master Harry. Is there anything else?"

Harry tilted his head. "Yes. I'm sure you noticed me expelling the Order. You are not to take orders from any of them, nor should you let them into the house or tell them of my whereabouts. My main home is the Potter Villa in Italy at this time. You are allowed there to keep me informed of the progress on the home or to ask for help if it's needed."

Kreacher bowed and scooted off towards the kitchen. As Harry exited the front door, he could hear what sounded like counters being scrubbed.

_**~End Flashback~**_

Harry finally rolled out of bed and headed towards the shower. After he finished and dressed, he headed downstairs for an early lunch. He still had a couple of hours before he was scheduled to meet Salazar, but he figured he could relax at the park for a bit before the scheduled meeting.

**A Little While Later**

**Slytherin Château**

Salazar finished eating his lunch and cast a time spell. It was almost time to go meet Harry, so he went upstairs to gather the leaf portkey. He removed his wizarding robe (as Twixny had reminded him that it would stand out to muggles) and grabbed the leaf portkey before heading out past his wards. With a whispered, "Nature," Salazar vanished.

**Sheffield Park Garden**

Harry glanced up at Salazar when he popped in just a few minutes before their one o'clock meeting and gave him a smile. Salazar saw him and returned the smile before glancing around at their surroundings.

There was a partial wall of trees behind the bench Harry was perched on and a small pond to the other side (which Salazar is happy he didn't portkey into). He turned around and saw a small path which he assumed lead to the rest of the park. He could feel the anti-muggle ward that Harry had put up and relaxed a bit. He turned back around and walked over to the wooden bench before sitting beside Harry.

"Where are we, Harry? I admit that it is the perfect place to meet."

"This is Sheffield Park Garden. It's in East Sussex, which is a bit south of London. I remembered this place from a school trip I had taken as a child. I had loved that trip and I am glad to have the chance to visit it again."

"Hmm. Do you think we could take a stroll through the other areas of the park after we finish talking?"

Harry chuckled. "Sure. I looked around a little earlier, but company would be nice. I could also use the time to give you an introductory course in some muggle things, as we will likely pass quite a few of them in our walk."

Salazar nodded, quite happy for the chance to extend his time with Harry. He took a deep breath and organized his thoughts. "So, do you want to start discussing the serious issues or start with the easy ones?"

"Hmm. I think we should just jump right into the serious ones. That way we can wind down with the others."

"Alright. I guess I'll start with the muggle issue. How do you stand on the idea of allowing muggle-borns into the school?"

Harry thought about it for a while before he replied. "I am torn on the issue. Muggle-borns do have magic and, if left untrained, could cause problems. But I do not think it wise for their relatives to have information of the magical world with the chance to spread our world's secrets and possibly come to hate their own children due to the child's magic. Some ideas have crossed my mind on how to solve this, including using the Book of Names at Hogwarts to take the children from their parents soon after birth and place them with magical families. Another idea was to use a combination of secrecy spells and protection potions to keep the children safe and the magical world a secret. Either way, I do not believe we should let magical children flounder uneducated – especially magical children in a hostile muggle world."

Salazar processed that and could see Harry's point. If there existed ways in this time to teach the children without risking their safety or the magical world's security, then he agreed that teaching them should be attempted. He stated as much to Harry.

Harry smiled brightly before it turned into a slight frown. "I am curious though. It has been speculated that if we cut off from the muggle world completely that the blood among wizards will get too inbred and stagnate, eventually causing the magic to die out."

Salazar blinked confusedly. "The only way for that to happen is to stop wizards from mingling with magical beings."

Harry's eyes widened and he bit his lip. "Umm, Salazar. Many wizards now view most magical beings as evil and below them. Couplings between wizards and these beings are practically unheard of."

"What? How did that come to be? I mean, what about the vampires, werewolves, veela, and wood elves that have wizards as mates?"

Harry blinked confusedly. "Wood elves?"

Salazar ran his hand down his face. "Of course. If the wizarding world looked down on the wood elves, chances are that they have cut themselves off until things are set right. Anyway Harry, wood elves look like us wizards with pointed instead of rounded ears. They have the beauty and grace of veela and tend to stay in wooded areas, hence their name. If you weren't taught about them, chances are that they have long since felt the need to seclude themselves from the wizarding world."

Harry tried to digest the fact that the elves he had always pictured in his mind (until he met a house elf) did exist – they just didn't want to be part of the prejudiced wizarding world. Harry let out a sigh. "I hate to tell you this, but vampires basically keep away from wizards since a wizard wouldn't hesitate to kill them. Werewolves are looked upon as filth, but aren't really hunted most of the time. Hags are seen as evil and are killed with no repercussions. Veela have the best reception among wizards and have been known to join with a wizard on occasion. They are still seen as somewhat foreign though."

"Damn. It's going to take a lot of work to fix that kind of prejudice. In my original time, it was common for magical beings to mix with wizards. Doing so kept the magic and blood from stagnating."

Harry gave Salazar a curious look. "Do you have any being blood?"

Salazar laughed a bit. "Indeed, I do. The Slytherin line mixed with all magical beings at some point in time, but the more recent ones were veela and wood elves."

"But I thought the Slytherin line prided itself on being pure-blood."

Salazar blinked at Harry's confused expression. "My ancestors did. By your expression, it seems the term's definition has changed. Back then, 'pure-blood' meant having no non-magical blood – in other words, having no muggle blood. What does it mean now?"

Harry gave a hollow smile. "These days, 'pure-blood' means having only wizarding blood."

Salazar scoffed at the notion of anyone these days having only wizarding blood. All the pure-blood families from his time had at least some being blood mixed in, so the same was true of any wizarding lines today.

"Hmm. I guess the next topic is how you view both Dumbledore and Voldemort and their sides of the war."

Harry nibbled on his bottom lip which, of course, distracted Salazar a bit. When Harry noticed Sal's gaze, he snickered a bit before replying to the inquiry. "I can't get behind either of them to be honest. Dumbledore wants too much interaction with the muggle world which is a very bad idea. Lately, he has also started to go by an 'any means necessary' policy to get the results he wants. As a victim of that policy, he will never have my support. On the other hand, I agree with Voldemort's position of keeping the worlds separate, but I hate his methods – so much torturing and killing. He has also promoted pure-blood supremacy (as defined by today's standards), but I am unsure if he does that just to get supporters as he himself has muggle blood. That's in addition to the fact that he killed my parents and has tried to kill me on several occasions. I don't see myself ever being comfortable following him. All this is why I've decided to remain neutral unless something drastic happens."

Salazar gave Harry a soft smile. "I am happy that you're views about this are so close to mine. I have talked to Voldemort though," Salazar rushed on as he saw Harry tense, "and he has promised not to concern himself with you. I mostly just learned what the wizarding world had thought I was like. I was going to talk to him about his war stances though. Maybe I can convince him to change his view on some things. When I do meet with him for this talk, would you like to come?"

Harry looked a bit surprised at the offer, before shaking his head. "No. I am not ready for a confrontation with him yet. Also, it wouldn't be a good idea to bring me unannounced to a manor full of people who have previously tried to kill me."

Harry and Salazar then talked about several other serious subjects. They both agreed that even if the muggle world is cut off from the wizarding one, they should have ways of monitoring the technologies and information from there. And once Harry informed Sal about the pitiful condition the education at Hogwarts had sunk to, Sal had agreed with him that a drastic overhaul needed to be done of the school's subject matters and staff.

After getting the serious issues out of the way, both of them gladly moved on to less serious issues. They discovered each other's favorite foods, most hated foods, favorite colors, and hobbies. They both laughed when they found out that deep green was both of their favorite colors.

Harry stood up with a smile on his face, left over from the laughter. "I think we can take that walk now. If we come up with other questions, we can discuss them while we walk."

Salazar grinned widely and stood as well. He let Harry lead him down the short path to the gardens, doing his absolute best not to let his eyes dart downward to Harry's ass. When they came to a much larger gravel path, Salazar moved to Harry's side and they began their walk.

Sometimes a muggle would pass them on the path and Harry would wait until they were out of earshot before pointing out things like zippers, phones, sunglasses, and the like. Between these mini muggle tutoring sessions, they would discuss other things they came into their mind. But there was one issue that Harry refused to talk about when Salazar had asked – his past.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Iris_ by Goo Goo Dolls

**A/N 1: **This was a longer chapter than usual. This mostly came from the fact that I didn't plan on the whole flashback scene of Harry's at all. I could have made two short chapters instead, but I kind of said the Harry/Sal conversation was going to take place. So, I just cut some parts of the conversation short (but still got the points across).

**A/N 2: **I did not have Harry bond with Kreacher for a reason. To me, the bonding between a wizard and house elf has to have at least some degree of trust. House elves have the magic to determine if a wizard is trustworthy or not, which is why the house elves for the Potter and nicer Black houses wanted to bond to Harry. However, Harry does not really trust Kreacher at this time and Kreacher is fighting against the prejudices he has been taught. I may or may not have them end up bonding.

**A/N 3:** On the same note, Kreacher was not scrubbing the counters by hand. He was using cleaning magic (think the self-scrubbing pan at the Burrow in the second movie). I think, due to the lack of bond to a wizard for Kreacher, it takes him longer to do chores – it also explains how the house got to the state it did since he likely hasn't been bonded since Walburga died. I don't see Sirius offering to bond since Kreacher was still tied to serve him as a Black anyways.

**A/N 4:** I can't remember where I got the Book of Names idea as to how the headmaster knows when a child is born with enough magic to qualify for admission. I'm pretty sure it is stuck in my head from one or more fanfictions I've read. If you let me know that it's in your story (and I know I've read it), I'll edit this chapter to include a credit to you.

**A/N 5:** I've started getting repeat questions in the reviews (i.e. Is Snape bad? Will Harry go dark? Etc.) If I don't answer the questions here in the author's notes after you've asked, chances are that I've already stated the answer previously - likely in an author's note. So, I'm not answering twice unless I've forgotten that I already wrote about it.

**A/N 6: **I am starting to lean towards no m-preg for this story. Don't get me wrong – I like the whole m-preg idea. I'm just having a hard time fitting the idea into the story as I have it planned out. Things can change though, so it's still a possibility. If I don't think it works in this particular story, I might end it without but then later write a short sequel where it occurs if I get a proper idea for it.

**A/N 7:** Over 100 reviews! Thanks for all the positive reinforcement guys :)!


	12. Changing the Point of View

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Yes, I know it took me forever to get this chapter out. I had to turn a laundry/office room into a livable bedroom. I've also been more in a reading than writing mood as of late.

I've decided to not post the new story up until this one is complete. I've slowed down on it as-is, so I think it best to just work on it as I continue with this story so as to have more on it done when I finally get around to posting it. I do have an idea for a holiday-themed short-story that I plan to work on, but I don't know if it'll be done before the end of the year. If it isn't done by then, I plan to hold onto it until next year.

I haven't really decided how much longer this story is going to be. I guess it all depends how in-detail I make certain events. I don't want to take away from the story by speeding through it, but I'm also kind of ready for the story to be complete. I'll do my best to keep the story up to par.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 11 – Changing the Point of View**

Salazar finished reading the newspaper and set it down. He was still quite cheerful from his walk and chat with Harry the previous day. And while they hadn't set a time for another meeting yet, Salazar had thought it had gone rather well.

On the down side, Salazar had decided that today would be a good time to talk with Voldemort about the war issues. He was hoping that the cheerfulness from yesterday would help keep him calm and less irritated for the likely headache-inducing debate.

Salazar gave a light sigh as he stood up. _'Might as well get going.'_ With that thought, he headed to the edge of his wards to apparate.

**Snake Hideaway**

Salazar apparated to the same spot he had disapparated from after his last visit. He tested the wards to make sure he had been given access, smiling when he saw that he was permitted to enter them. After crossing the wards, the large manor home became visible and he made his way to the entry.

After reaching and entering the manor, Salazar amused himself by watching the reaction of the others walking around and on guard. Some barely glanced at him and others glared at him suspiciously. He eventually reached the study he had been brought to on his last visit and knocked on the door.

"Enter," a familiar voice called out from inside the room.

Salazar opened the door and gave a nod to Voldemort who was sitting at the same desk as last time. Thankfully Voldemort was alone this time – seeing that somewhat insane woman again would have grated on his nerves.

"I see you came back to finish our discussion."

Salazar settled into a leather chair opposite the desk. "Yes. I am hoping this chat won't give me too much of a headache. Also, some additional issues have been brought to my attention that I would like to have your opinion on."

Voldemort gave a short laugh. "Indeed. Where shall we start?"

Salazar gave a light shrug. "Why don't we start with you explaining your reasons for starting this 'war' and its goals."

Voldemort gave a sigh and reclined back in his chair. "My original goal was to fully cut off the muggles and muggle-borns from our world – complete separation. Let's just say I have first-hand experience with how negatively muggles treat things they don't understand.

"I tried to do this through political means to begin with, but the Dark Wizard Grindelwald had recently been defeated and most of the wizarding world was on a pro-muggle high to try and alleviate their guilt towards muggles due to the damage that a wizard had done to the their world. Even the pure-bloods who wanted separation wouldn't support anything that seemed anti-muggle for fear of the backlash. I was going to wait things out and try again later, but I had already caught the attention of Grindelwald's defeater, Albus Dumbledore.

"He started subtle whisperings about me and how I was dark and evil and was going to turn into the next Grindelwald. Granted, I was dark but I had no plans for killing off muggles in mass quantities. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had (and still has) a great amount of influence and I knew that once he had people convinced, there was no hope for me to further my goals in the political way personally. So, I gathered followers in-secret and tried to influence pure-bloods in positions of power to gradually change the laws – very minor ones at first. I actually managed to get quite a few followers until Dumbledore found out what I was doing. He shone the spotlight on my activities and a number of those who were following me stopped so as to keep the public from denouncing them.

"I decided to work towards my goal in another way. I suppose I went about it the same way as Grindelwald in that I built myself up a group of dissenters to try and change things by force, but I saw no other alternatives left to me. At that point, I felt I only had one option left – war.

"I called to all those who wanted separation to join and set my sights on taking over the Ministry. I emphasized to my followers that killings should be limited to those who outright attack you and those higher-up in the ministry that were a threat to our cause; the fewer pure-bloods and half-bloods killed, the better.

"Then came a prophecy. It stated that someone would be born that would have the power to kill me. I'll admit that killing children didn't appeal to me, but I saw it as a threat to myself and my cause. So, I went after the child I felt to which the prophecy referred to take out the threat before he gained power. I'm sure you've read what happened after that."

Salazar took a few minutes to think over what he had been told. He didn't necessarily agree with how his kin had gone about things near the end, but he could see how Voldemort felt he had no choice.

"What about since your return? I've heard that your followers have been linked to a few killings of muggle and muggle-born families – including children."

Voldemort ran a hand down his face. "I know and I regret those. It's due to a combination of things. Being bodiless for over thirteen years took its toll on my sanity and the blood ritual I used to return affected it even more. In addition, my followers had thirteen years of built-up resentment towards the lighter wizards and muggles for what they saw as putting the wizarding world at risk. Add in the fact that the followers who went to Azkaban lost quite a bit of their sanity and it made a volatile mix. Luckily, I have regained my mind over the past year or so. In doing so, I was able to see the damage to the cause done by me and my followers by attacking random innocents. I've put a stop to it, but some of my followers are unhappy that they can't kill easily anymore."

Salazar nodded. "The woman I saw last time was one of them, wasn't she? That's what the argument was about."

"Yes. Bellatrix wanted to torture and kill muggles indiscriminately. She wasn't that bad before Azkaban, but her time in that place left her with only a few threads of sanity left. She's a loose cannon that I have to keep a constant watch on."

"I see. I do have a few issues with your current goals. I do agree in complete separation between our world and theirs. And, up until yesterday, I felt muggle-borns should be left in the muggle world."

Voldemort titled his head. "What happened yesterday to change that opinion?"

"I talked to Harry." Salazar smirked at Voldemort's expression that bordered on shock and anger and held up his hand to forestall an objection. "I know you and he have a past, but he is also for separation. No one just ever asked his opinion on the matter."

Seeing that the other had calmed somewhat, Salazar continued. "Harry brought up a great point in that muggle-borns left in the muggle world would create problems. Left untrained, their magic could draw unwanted attention. It could also mean the children are harmed due to fear by the parents. Plus, if we brought them into our world, it would add to the available gene pool."

"And how would you suggest handling the secrecy issues? Muggle-borns are the prime leak of information about us."

"True. Harry has suggested either using the Book of Names to take the children at birth and raise them in magical families, or to use a combination of protection and secrecy spells to keep both the children and our secrets safe."

Voldemort sighed heavily. "I can see your point and the benefits of taking in the muggle-borns. The problem with it comes from the fact that my followers are mostly anti-muggle-born and changing my stance on the issue will cause mass dissention. I'm not ruling it out, but it'll take time to change viewpoints." He paused. "What about muggle-borns who have already left the school or are still in-school?"

Salazar smiled. "Easy - give them a choice. They must either swear a vow to stay in the wizarding world or have their magic removed and memories obliviated if they wish to live in the muggle one. There are no on-the-fence opportunities as that is what leads to information leaks to begin with."

"That'll work, I suppose. What other issues do you have with my goals?"

"I understand that while you have promised certain freedoms to some magical beings, you have not promised all beings major freedoms. In my time, almost all magical beings had full freedom and we all lived relatively at peace. There were some restrictions, but they were mostly in place to keep from drawing attention to our world. A mass vampire feeding spree, for example, would draw unwelcome notice.

"Anyway, Harry told me that most beings in our world have a negative stigma. I want to erase that. By cutting off our world from the muggles, you will be restricting the gene pool quite a bit – even more so when some of the muggle-borns chose the muggle world over ours. To negate this, the stigma that comes from a wizard or witch joining with magical beings should be slowly dissolved."

Voldemort looked at Salazar shocked. "But they're lower than us! They'll dilute the blood."

Salazar scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. It was quite common in my time for wizarding families to inter-marry with vampires, werewolves, veela, and wood elves – sometimes hags, giants, goblins, and dwarves. There were even rare occasions with banshees and some of the more human magical beasts. The point is that, by joining with all these magical beings, wizarding families expanded and increased their magical powers. It also kept away the problem of inbreeding."

Salazar smirked. "Our own line has every kind of being in it somewhere."

"Impossible! You're a pure-blood!"

"Indeed, I am. But pure-blood in my day only meant no muggle blood. Pure-blood equaled all-magical blood. But that's changed. Somewhere in the past, it changed to mean only wizarding blood. That greatly cut down on the partner choices and inbreeding has become a problem. I've read that Squibs have become more frequent – they were unheard of in my day."

Voldemort waved his hand to dismiss the idea. "Even if what you say is true, my followers would never get behind interbreeding. Most are pure-bloods who value their blood purity way too much."

Salazar shrugged. "Just point out to them they chances are, they have being blood in them. None of the pure-bloods from my time had being-free bloodlines, so it's impossible for one to exist now. Anyway, even if they themselves don't want to inter-marry, I want the laws in place to allow it."

Voldemort sighed. "Let me think it over. If I can work out a way to give the freedoms, it would also likely gain me support from those beings."

"Very well, but know that is one issue I am firm about. Moving on, please tell me you plan to overhaul the Hogwarts curriculum. Harry has told me it is deplorable. Also, I want the Sorting Hat to have the power to choose the headmaster as it used to."

"I had planned on improving the studies at the school. I was unaware, however, that the Sorting Hat used to choose the headmaster. That'll be a hard thing for me to agree on as I liked the idea of swaying who was chosen. I felt it better to make sure someone who followed my view on things was in such an influential position. You'll have to convince me about it as we get closer to taking over the Ministry."

"And convince you I shall. The only other main issue is to warn you from harming Harry."

"You mentioned him the other day. Why is he so important to you?"

"The stasis spell I used was one that was meant to wake me up when the power of my equal called to me. Harry Potter is that equal."

"A soul mate?"

Salazar chuckled. "Not exactly. A soul mate is someone pre-destined for you. Also, soul mates are mostly found in magical beings or those with a large percentage of being blood. Harry is my equal in that his opinions and viewpoints match mine, we are both sexually attracted to males, our magic is compatible, and (according to my stasis spell) we would be very happy together."

Salazar narrowed his eyes at the other man. "If you should ever try to harm Harry, I won't hesitate to return the favor. The same goes for any of your followers. Harry is the most important to me."

Voldemort's face showed his anger before he calmed. "I can't say I understand why he's so important that he takes precedent over your own blood. I will agree to leave him alone though as your support is much better than your hindrance. He seems to have a neutral stance at the moment, so it's not that important to go after him."

Salazar smirked. "Good. I pl-"

A surge of magic swept across both men.

"Harry," Salazar whispered.

Salazar nodded to Voldemort and stood. "I have to go find out what that was. I'll come by once every couple of weeks or so to keep in touch and see how things are progressing."

Salazar rushed from the room, not giving Voldemort a chance to reply. He had to go see what had caused such an outburst from his equal.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Nothing New _by Funker Vogt

**A/N 1: **Someone mentioned the fact that Salazar uses some modern language. I know it's unlikely that he would know today's slang and grammar. This ties into my previous note that I hate doing dialects. It would take me three times as long to write a chapter if I decided to try and keep everyone's dialect intact, so I just decided everyone would talk the same. Sorry if it takes you out of the story to not see them, but I just can't bring myself to write them.

**A/N 2: **Another reviewer mentioned that when I introduced Salazar, he was twenty-two (Chapter 4). Then later it states he is twenty-four (Chapter 8). This difference in age is due to the two years it took him to research and figure out the stasis magic he ended up using.

**A/N 3:** That same reviewer pointed out a typo I made in the last chapter about Harry telling Kreacher his main home was in France. His home is in Italy and the typo has been fixed.

**A/N 4:** Sorry for Voldemort's huge monologue. It's what mostly slowed me down when writing this chapter. Even I was thinking, "OMG Voldy. Just get to the point." But I figured if I didn't type everything I did, people would ask me questions about what I skipped and I'd end up answering them anyway.

Also, the dialog is in English because, if in Parseltongue, all that formatted text would likely irritate some people.


	13. These Wounds

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Oh my God. I have yet another fanfiction idea that came to me that I want to write. I seriously need to write faster or my imagination needs to slow down.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Where the last chapter ended:**

_A surge of magic swept across both men._

"_Harry," Salazar whispered._

_Salazar nodded to Voldemort and stood. "I have to go find out what that was. I'll come by once every couple of weeks or so to keep in touch and see how things are progressing."_

_Salazar rushed from the room, not giving Voldemort a chance to reply. He had to go see what had caused such an outburst from his equal._

**Chapter 12 – These Wounds**

**Earlier that Same Day**

**Potter Villa**

Harry rocked back and forth with his knees to his chest, his hair stuck to his neck and face with cold sweat. He had recently jolted awake out of his worst nightmare since waking up in the hospital. While Harry's night terrors normally featured Voldemort or the deaths of Sirius and Cedric, this one shook him on an even deeper level. This nightmare was a playback of every time Vernon and Dudley were rough with him when they raped him (which, to be honest, was most times).

Harry had tried to push all the pain and anger at his abuse to the back of his mind until he could work through it with his therapist. But his nightmare had made him realize something important – if Harry didn't confront or report the Dursleys, none of them would be punished for what they had done to him. Harry decided that, before he could work beyond his issues with his past, he needed to confront them.

Harry finally unfolded himself from his fetal position and headed to the shower. No doubt he would need another after he meet with the filth he called his relatives.

**An Hour Later**

**Surrey, England**

Harry's steps slowed the closer he came to the house he had only recently escaped from. Much of his mind screamed that he should run back home to safety and that he was crazy for coming here. But that stubborn part of his mind kept him on his path, however slowly he was walking it. His stupid Gryffindor bravery was determined to see this through.

Harry finally stepped up to the door of number four, Privet Drive and, after a few seconds of hesitation, opened the door without bothering to knock. He heard the television on in the living room and quietly closed the door behind him.

Knowing that whatever happened would include yelling on at least Vernon's part, Harry threw up silencing wards. Harry used his magic to bring to him all the items he had left behind that Vernon hadn't destroyed. It looked like only the items in the hidden place under the floorboard in his room were still there. He tucked the album and wand in the cloak and stuffed the bundle of cloth into his robes.

Harry walked into the living room, waiting for one of the three Dursleys to notice his presence. Vernon was the first to notice Harry, evidenced by his face turning from a light pink hue to a reddish purple color. The large man stood with a bellow and charged towards his small nephew.

Harry felt a twinge of fear before gathering his courage. With a flick of his hand, he sent his uncle back into his seat on the couch. By now, the other two occupants had noticed Harry.

"How dare you come back here, you freak! Not only did you ruin my summer business, but you left a mess on the floor and walls. I thought that at least we were rid of you," Vernon growled out.

Vernon's nonchalant attitude about his plans to fill his nephew's summer with forced prostitution to fill the man's greedy pockets and the way he complained how Harry putting a bullet in his head left a mess snapped something inside Harry. He went from wanting to confront them to wanting to punish them.

Harry's face turned into an uncharacteristic sneer. "I would shut up, you fucking pedophile." At Vernon's outraged below, Harry cut him off before he could start a tirade. "I think you have forgotten a vital piece of information. I am seventeen now. That means I can do all the magic I want."

Harry almost laughed at how pale all three became. He was somewhat surprised at Petunia's next words.

"B-But, you can't use the bad kind. You'll get in trouble. Like the man who killed your parents did."

Harry gave a shrug. "Even if I did use those spells, it's not like anyone could track me. In case you didn't notice earlier, I don't need to use a wand. If I killed you all here, no one could prove it."

Harry let out a loud laugh at the frightened faces of his relatives before he suddenly turned serious. "I won't be killing you, though you all deserve it. What I have in mind is much more…appropriate."

"I'll report you! You ungrateful, little-"

"Ungrateful!" Picture frames on the mantle exploded. "And what should I be grateful for? Being starved?" Exploding dishes could be heard in the kitchen. "Being beaten?" The television screen blew out. "Or maybe I should be grateful to you and your whale of a son for raping me too many times to count!" The floorboards began to rattle throughout the entire house. Harry stuck the frightened trio to the couch to prevent them from running or lashing out at him and walked over, the debris from all the exploded items circling around the edges of the room.

He looked to Petunia. "While you didn't take an active part in the rape, you didn't stop it. And since I could remember, you made me clean everything only to complain nothing was ever clean enough. Your punishment is to never feel anything is clean enough and have the unresistable urge to continuously clean. That might not sound like much, but living day after day spending sixteen hours with your hands in cleaning solution trying to scrub non-existent dirt off of every surface for the rest of your life will quickly turn into the hell that I had to live."

A sickly yellow light appeared from Harry's hands and sunk into Petunia.

"How dare you!"

Harry silenced them all. "Don't worry Vernon. I'll get to you. First though, is your son."

Harry turned to Dudley, who looked like he wanted to sink through the couch and hide. "Ah, Dudley. I have the perfect fate for you. You always tortured and beat me when we were children and took away all my hopes of having a friend. Then you followed your Father's example and raped me instead of trying to help. Your punishment will be that no one will ever want to be friendly to you, leaving you alone. In addition, every time you try anything sexual, you will grow limp before you get any kind of satisfaction. That's even if you can get someone to let you near them with the other punishment in place. And don't even try raping someone – painful won't even begin to cover it. I'm sure the loneliness and despair will eventually catch up with you."

A navy blue light left Harry's hands and engulfed his cousin.

Harry turned finally to his uncle and he gave a frightening smile. "Finally your turn, Uncle. Don't worry. I saved the best for last. You beat me for over ten years and raped me since I was nine – NINE! As if that wasn't bad enough, you had to go and let the horrible secret out and sell me to others, you fucking greedy bastard. And then you killed Hedwig, my longest and only remaining friend. Your punishment shall be to tell of all your evils. Since you decided to break the secrecy, you will feel the need to tell the police every misdeed you have done and provide proof if they ask for it. You will also tell them about the man you brought here to rape me that night and provide as much information as you can about other child rapists you know of. After you are convicted, you will attract the attention of the most brutal convicts who will be happy to rape and beat you the entirety of your stay in prison – I'm betting that will be a long time. And you will never again be able to get any kind of sexual satisfaction, just like your idiot son. You will also know that people look on you as a freak or abomination."

A violent red color was pushed from Harry's fingers and struck Vernon.

Harry stared at his blank-faced relatives, their lack of expression left over from the recent spell-work. He felt like some of the weight from his heart had lifted, but he still felt miserable. He still had an urge deep down inside to kill them. His emotions were even higher after rehashing his past.

The sudden sound of the front door opening with an accompanying magical signature made Harry send his magic out at the person rounding the corner. He must not have noticed the person coming earlier due to his emotions and own magical expenditure.

Salazar used his own magic to shield himself from the magic and debris sent to him as he turned the corner. Luckily, he was prepared since he could tell the magic was based on turbulent emotions.

Harry's eyes widened and his magic ebbed, the debris hitting the floor. "Salazar."

"Harry. I felt your magic reacting strongly." Salazar glanced at the three people on the couch and recognized advanced spell-work on all three. He looked back to Harry. "Are you okay?"

The tightly wound string on Harry's emotions snapped at the concern in Salazar's voice and he started to sob loudly.

Salazar rushed forward and cradled Harry in his arms. He was a little surprised when Harry clutched onto his robes tightly and sobbed louder.

"Come. Let's leave here." Salazar started guiding Harry to the door, sending out his magic to repair all the broken items. He also made sure to erase Harry's visit from the muggles' minds. The last thing he wanted was Harry to have to explain his visit there to others.

Salazar led Harry to a nearby alleyway and held him tightly. "I'm going to take you to my home in France, alright?"

Harry, still crying and wiping his tears on Salazar's sleeve, gave a faint nod.

Salazar disapparated them both away from Surrey to his château in France. Once they arrived, Salazar hastily keyed Harry into the wards and guided the sobbing young man into his home and upstairs. He guided Harry into a guest bedroom and carefully tucked Harry under the covers. Harry clutched one of the pillows to his chest, but refused to let go of Harry's robes. Salazar sat on the edge of the bed and gently stroked through Harry's black strands of hair. And then Harry started talking.

Harry told Salazar everything – the abuse, the rape, Sirius, Hedwig, the loneliness, the revenge. Some part of his brain was yelling at him to shut up, but it seemed that Harry had held onto things for too long and he couldn't stop himself.

After Harry's finished talking, he buried his face into the pillow. His sobs were finally calmed down and his tears were drying. A few minutes passed before Harry gathered his courage and looked up into Salazar's face, whose hand was still running through Harry's hair.

"Salazar?"

"Yes, Harry?"

Harry bit his lip. "Do you think I'm disgusting now?"

Salazar frowned. "No, Harry. I think your relatives are the disgusting ones and I would kill them in a heartbeat if I thought it would make everything better."

Harry smiled at the fact that Salazar wasn't disgusted with him.

Salazar stood from the bed and gave Harry's hair one last caress. "Rest, Harry. We can talk later."

Harry gave a tired nod, drained from both all the magic he used and the emotional upheaval he had been through. He quickly fell asleep.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Crawling _by Linkin Park

**A/N 1: **I noticed that this fanfiction was pulled off AFF because of long author notes. I'll try and get the story back up there in the next couple of weeks.

**A/N 2: **Ok. For those confused on why Voldemort and Salazar felt the magic but no Ministry officials popped up, there are a few of reasons. Firstly, Harry is of-age and he didn't use his wand. The Ministry relies on the signature of a wand and not a wizard to track magic done in muggle areas and, since Harry's wand isn't automatically being tracked anymore due to him turning seventeen, I'm thinking the Ministry is too inept to track a precise location. Secondly, both Voldemort and Salazar have somewhat of a connection to Harry. Thirdly, Salazar is more powerful than most wizards and can track familiar magic much easier. Lastly, because I said so.

**A/N 3:** I know Harry seemed uncharacteristically mean when talking to the Dursleys. I think they bring out the worst in him and he had a lot of undealt with anger regarding them. I didn't want this to be a Dark!Harry or one who would resort to outright torture. I think what he inflicted on them was justified payback.

**A/N 4:** I'm unsure if the British jail system has the same reputation as the ones in the U.S. does regarding people who have been convicted of sexual child abuse (especially males). Pretend it does even if it isn't the case.

**A/N 5: **There will be a bit of time-skipping starting next chapter. A lot of details and time won't be spent on many events except the ones I feel are really important to the story.


	14. Opened These Eyes

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Sorry this took longer than my allotted month to complete. Holidays, my WoW account getting hacked, a sick cat, my grandmother being in the hospital for a few days, and a new story delayed things a while.

Speaking of which - for those that haven't noticed, I have put up a new in-progress story. It is an HP/OMC slash for those that might be interested.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 13 – Opened These Eyes**

**Two Months Later**

Harry's breakdown had brought down many of his walls and Salazar had spent a few days reassuring him and helping him recover from the outburst. These few days deepened the friendship between the two much more quickly than usual circumstances would have allowed.

The past two months had seen the friendship grow even more. Harry had even trusted Salazar with the location of his home in Italy, where the two had spent several weekends enjoying the beach. On other occasions, Harry would go to Sal's home in France and help bring him up to date with changes in both the muggle and wizarding world.

They had also spent even more time together clearing out some of each other's more dilapidated properties. Harry was very glad he waited for Salazar's help on the one Black property that had given him the chills - a nest of acromantulas had been hiding in the basement and quite a few boggarts had popped up in various places throughout the castle. Given the fact that the first boggart had turned into Vernon, he's not sure how he would have handled them all without Salazar's support. Salazar had stepped in to take care of the Vernon boggart and had insisted on dealing with the rest of them.

Harry had also been seeing his therapist three times a week to work on the issues of his past. He liked his therapist very much and felt that he was steadily improving. He was even thinking about starting to date Salazar; his therapist had encouraged him to allow himself to move on if he felt comfortable, but that is was wise to move slowly.

As Harry left the therapist's building and headed to a local ice-cream shop that he loved, he thought about how things were moving along in the wizarding world. Salazar had mentioned that Voldemort had eventually agreed to follow his stance on most issues. The main issue yet still to be decided on was what route to take with the muggle-borns – take them at birth or use a selection of spells on each child's family. Bellatrix had flipped out about two weeks ago when Voldemort explained the change of their side's stance about allowing muggle-borns in the wizarding world. After listening to her yell about how she'd kill them personally if Voldemort wouldn't, the Dark Lord had taken her down with an _Avada Kedavra. _Anyone else who had problems with the change was wise enough to keep it to themselves after that.

Voldemort was stealthily infiltrating the Ministry and, according to Salazar, was close to getting Fudge kicked out. When that happened, he planned to put Lucius in place and have laws changed over time.

Harry shook himself from his musings on recent events and placed the empty cup from his sundae in the trashcan before making his way to a nearby vacant alley to apparate. He wanted to send Salazar an invite for tomorrow before it got too late. Harry wanted to tell the ever-faithful man in-person that he was ready for the next step.

**The Next Day**

**Potter Villa**

Harry nervously fidgeted while glancing at the clock. He had never been in a real relationship before and he knew that there was a risk, however small, that opening himself up in this way could lead to pain.

Harry halted his pacing as he found some Gryffindor bravery and shook the negative thoughts out of his head. Salazar had been with him through some really tough times already and helped him heal from past pains. He knew Salazar would never intentionally hurt him.

Harry finally relaxed a bit and got some tea ready. It was just a few minutes until it was the time that Salazar had agreed to come over and he had an uncanny knack of being exactly on-time. Sure enough, just as soon as Harry had finished preparing Sal's tea the way he liked it, said man was escorted into the parlor by Snilpy.

Salazar greeted Harry with a hug, a custom that had come into existence about a month ago, and took a seat in the chair opposite where Harry was standing. Harry sat as well and offered Salazar the tea he had prepared for him.

Salazar took the tea gratefully and smiled at Harry in thanks. "So, what shall we do today? Ready to give horseback riding a try yet?"

Harry shook his head and steeled his nerves, blurting out what was on his mind before he could feel too awkward. "I think I'm ready to date."

Salazar's eyebrows shot up and he lowered the teacup from his lips. He set his tea on the table and scooted his chair close to Harry's before taking Harry's hands into his own.

"Are you sure you are ready, Harry? I want you to be certain."

Harry smiled genuinely and nodded. "I am. As long as we go slow."

Salazar returned the smile before leaning in and giving Harry a gentle kiss. He pulled back and chuckled at the blush covering Harry's face. "I shall go as slowly as you wish. Thank you for giving me a chance."

Harry gave Sal's hands a gentle squeeze before releasing them to continue drinking his tea. "As far as plans for today, it's time for you to put your muggle education to the test. We shall be going to an amusement park."

Salazar didn't necessarily like the mischievous glint in Harry's eyes at that statement.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_A Fear of Being Alone _by The Exies

**A/N 1: **Sorry for the fact that this chapter is so short. Every time I tried to add in the next bit, it just didn't feel right being part of this chapter. Luckily, the end is coming – I feel there are a max of four chapters left in this story.

**A/N 2:** I have yet to decide which way I want muggle-borns handled in the new order. It's not a big plot-point, but I figure I'll use whichever you readers would prefer. Thus, I've put up a new poll on my profile for you to vote on. Check it out!


	15. To Watch You Break Down

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world, possible M-preg. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **I know this chapter took a really long time. Sorry! I'm going to try to at least add some amount of work each weekend, but it really all depends on how busy/hectic work is over the previous week. Lately, I've just felt like collapsing in bed as soon as I get home :(.

And the poll results are in! Looks like my own favorite of taking muggle-borns at birth is the winner.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 14 – To Watch You Break Down**

**One Month Later**

Harry threw down the newspaper with a scoff. _'He's gone completely barmy.'_

The newspaper headline stood out in large letters _**Former Headmaster Tries to Assault New Minister!**_ and underneath was quite a picture. In the moving photo, Lucius Malfoy was being pushed behind his Auror guard and a crazed-looking Albus Dumbledore seemed to be struggling to reach the stand he was on, occasionally shooting spells at the new minister.

Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose where his glasses used to rest. _'He must have been really desperate to do something out in the open like that. He's either losing support, running out of ideas, or both.'_

Shrugging, Harry decided it wasn't really his problem either way and picked the paper back up, deciding to read the entire story.

_**Former Headmaster Tries to Assault New Minister!**_

_As everyone knows, Former Minister Cornelius Fudge was ousted from office by a vote of no-confidence by a majority of the Wizengamot a week ago. Less than forty-eight hours later, Lucius Malfoy was voted in as new Minister of Magic._

_In his third public speech in the short time since he has attained the office, Minister Lucius Malfoy was addressing the creature laws passed by the previous administration. In a surprise for most of the gathered crowd, Minister Malfoy argued against the laws and promised all those with creature and being blood that his office would look into reversing many, if not all, of them._

_It was at this time that then-Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, stormed the stage yelling about how the new Minister was just the Dark Lord's pawn. Frustrated when he wasn't being taken seriously, Dumbledore started shooting spells at Minister Malfoy, not caring that innocent citizens were in the area and could have easily been hit by a stray spell. Luckily, the Auror guard acted immediately and protected the Minister, moving swiftly to disarm and apprehend the elderly man._

_We have learned that, in an overnight session of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore's fate was decided. His magic will be sealed and he will be sent to Azkaban. When asked about the possibility of receiving the Dementor's Kiss, Chief Witch of the Wizengamot Amelia Bones said, "He didn't directly kill anyone, so we cannot order his death. It is our belief though, that given his age, he will not last long there without his magic. We believe this punishment fits with attacking the Minister and putting nearby citizens at risk."_

_After learning about the sentence early this morning, Minister Malfoy was asked about the status of the position of Hogwarts Headmaster. He reassured everyone that, for the rest of this term at least, Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall would oversee the duties of Headmaster. The Minister followed this statement with some exciting news. It seems that on Winter Solstice, the famous Sorting Hat will choose the next headmaster who will hopefully be in place by the end of the winter holidays._

_For those who don't know, the Sorting Hat was the traditional way the Hogwarts headmasters were chosen. The tradition was stopped in 1818 by a proposition to the Wizengamot by then-Minister of Magic, Grogan Stump, who argued that the curriculum being taught was outdated (though many later believed he was only upset that they were slow to introduce the "being" and "creature" classification system he is famous for). Stump's proposition was, as you can guess, passed by the Wizengamot who voted on new headmasters for the school (later the Board of Governors overtook this duty)._

_Many people are looking forward to seeing who the Sorting Hat chooses for this important task. Will it pick the Deputy Headmistress herself? A famous wizard/witch singer? Or an unknown? We shall find out in seven weeks' time!_

Harry set the newspaper down and chewed on his bottom lip. While it may have sounded mean, he was glad that Albus would be out of his life from now on. He hadn't told Salazar yet, but Harry had been holding back on moving further in their relationship because he always worried Albus would find out and somehow use either the relationship or Sal against him to get Harry back under the old man's thumb. He would make an appointment to see his therapist later to discuss the situation with Albus (minus all the magical talk, of course).

Harry sipped his morning tea before standing and heading towards the front hall. He had plans to finally go horse-back riding with Salazar.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_On Your Way Down _by Stabbing Westward

**A/N 1: **No, Harry isn't attending his seventh year at Hogwarts. He doesn't trust Albus and won't put himself in a situation where the old coot can have authority over him. Just assume he is doing some self-study and having intelligent conversations with Sal in which he learns stuff.

**A/N 2:** I know this chapter is another shorter one, but I figure you guys have waited long enough for something new, so I'd throw this out there at the length it is.


	16. So Easy To Love

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **There are a bunch of excuses I could give as to why it took so long for this chapter to come about. The primary reason was that this chapter just scared me. Writing smut can make or break a reader's opinion about a story and author, and taking that step just made me really nervous. Here goes nothing!

**Smut Lies Ahead (finally)! This is the first real action this story has gotten. Skip this chapter is you aren't interested in that kind of thing or are anti-Bottom!Harry.**

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 15 – So Easy To Love**

**December 17**

**Slytherin Château**

Laughter rang out through the snowflake-filled air that swirled over a large frozen-over lake. The cause of the laughter was obvious, as sprawled on his butt and looking bewildered in the middle of the ice was Salazar Slytherin.

"It wasn't that funny," the wizard mumbled.

Harry clutched his stomach due to all the laughing he had done from seeing his normally calm companion falling on his ass. "It was very funny – at least on my end of things."

Salazar gave a childish huff at being laughed at before chuckling a little at his own expense. The fact that Harry had laughed so freely and openly had warmed away most of the bite of the cold seeping through his trousers.

"If you are done laughing your ass off, come help me up. Mine is freezing off." Salazar emphasized his dire need for help by pouting and holding up his arms for help.

The pitiful sight started Harry laughing again, but he skated over to his fallen partner and reached down to help him up.

Salazar smirked and Harry tried to pull back at the sneaky glint in the other's eyes. The older wizard was too quick though and grabbed Harry's hands before tugging him down on the ice with him.

"Hey!"

"Mwahaha! I have melded with the ice and become an ice pixie! I shall now torture you for laughing at me!"

Salazar laughed in a playful overlord manner before commencing a tickling attack on Harry, who had been trying to crawl away.

Harry's laughter rang though the air again along with a few 'Stop, it tickles!' pleas. Salazar spent a good two or three minutes on his assault before tugging Harry in a warm hug.

"Hmm, you're warmth and laughter has melted my frozen pixie heart and once again turned me into a simple wizard."

Harry, already flushed from laughing so much, reddened even more at the comment. He smiled and leaned in for a soft kiss – a kiss which Salazar happily returned and gradually deepened.

Harry gave a pleasured whimper before parting his lips and giving a lick to the mouth pressed against his own. This elicited the reaction he was hoping for when Salazar moaned and parted his own lips, the blond wizard almost immediately slipping his tongue into Harry's hot mouth to explore. Harry's hands reached up and tangled in Salazar's soft hair, letting the older wizard take control of the kiss.

It had been a slow process to trust Sal to stop when things reached the point that Harry wasn't ready to move past yet. But each and every time Harry even hinted that things were reaching beyond his comfort level, Salazar slowed things down and never complained. Even just last weekend, when they had found themselves against the dining room wall in Harry's Italian villa, Salazar had stopped when Harry asked. That had been enough to gain the entirety of the younger wizard's trust, as Sal had stopped even though they were mostly undressed and both of them were hard and panting from the rutting they had been doing.

Harry was shaken out of his thoughts when a cold hand slipped beneath his coat. He gave a breathy laugh and pulled back from the kiss.

"As much as I love the snow, I think we should take this inside."

Salazar didn't need to be told twice and apparated them both in front of the toasty fireplace in his library. He barely had time to regain his bearings before Harry's mouth was back on his. As their kiss heated up again, so did their bodies. Harry started tugging off Sal's clothing and Salazar was quick to return the favor. An impulsive thrust from Harry had them moaning and breaking the kiss, both of them only left in their pants.

Salazar took a small breath to try and calm himself slightly, preparing to slow down for Harry.

Harry smiled lovingly at Sal's behavior. He could trust this man and he was finally ready to open himself completely. He leaned up and pushed Salazar on his back before reaching for the older man's zipper.

Salazar exhaled and tried not to thrust his hips up into Harry's hand.

"Harry. Are you sure-"

"I'm ready. A little nervous, but ready."

Salazar flushed and this time he couldn't stop himself from moving his hips upward as Harry unzipped his pants completely (the younger wizard was not shocked at Salazar's lack of undergarments like he had been the first time they'd shed some clothes). He let Harry tug them down and off but Harry moved out of his reach when he tried to do the same.

"Soon."

Sal arched his eyebrow questioningly, but groaned and let his head thunk back against the floor as Harry kneeled between his legs. The groan turned into a whimper as he felt Harry's breath moving across his hard cock.

"Harry, y-you don't have to-Fuck!"

Harry smiled around the cock in his mouth and gave the hard flesh gentle licks while becoming accustomed the taste of the leaking precum. After a minute of what Salazar felt to be torturously teasing licking, Harry began to move his mouth up and down while sucking on the length.

Salazar tried his best to keep still, but he couldn't stop his hips from thrusting upward on occasion. His hands also became tangled in Harry's hair at some point. He was quickly becoming worried he might reach climax too soon (it had been a long time after all) and tugged lightly at Harry's hair.

Harry released Salazar with a small pout and leaned up. He had loved making the normally composed man moan and whimper because of him.

Salazar reached his hand and tugged at the hem of Harry's trousers.

"Please…I want to taste you."

Harry's face reddened a bit but he complied and slowly shed his pants and boxers before being guided to sit so his back rested against one of the library couches. He didn't even have time to question why he was placed there before Salazar had leaned down and swallowed most of Harry's length.

"God! Fuck! S-Sal!"

Harry reached one hand down to reflexively press Sal's head down more while he seized one of the couch cushions in a vice grip with his other hand in a vain attempt to ground himself.

Salazar moaned at finally getting to taste the young wizard, an act which caused Harry to cry out from the vibrations. That seemed to rush Harry to his breaking point and, several seconds later, a scream of his name and a harsh tug of his hair was the only warning Salazar got before his mouth was filled with Harry's release. Salazar took in the taste as he swallowed and leaned up to kiss a red-faced Harry.

"I-I'm sorry."

Salazar brushed a strand of hair from Harry's sweaty face. "Don't be sorry for anything. I enjoyed my treat and it's best if you're relaxed from release before we progress anyway. Catch your breath for a second and we can continue."

Harry grinned happily at Salazar and leaned in for a kiss. He scrunched his nose a little at the fact that he was technically tasting his own cum on Salazar's lips, but the blond's skill at kissing soon pushed the thought from his mind. As the kiss became more heated, Harry's teenage hormones soon had him hardening once more. Salazar noticed and pulled back from the kiss.

"Harry, I want to make you as relaxed as possible. Will you let me try something? If you don't like it, I will stop."

Harry nibbled on his lip a little before giving a somewhat nervous nod. The smile he got in return helped ease some of the nerves that had been creeping back in.

Salazar guided Harry into a kneeling position and leaned him forward onto the seat of the couch. He traced a finger down the younger wizard's spine and chuckled a little at the shiver that ran through Harry at the touch.

"I'm going to use a gentle spell. It may feel funny, but it's recommended for this kind of thing. Is that alright?"

Harry nodded and squirmed as he felt the spell enter his body from Salazar's finger tip. He blushed a bit as he noticed the spell had cleaned him out and he pressed his warm face into the couch cushion to hide his embarrassment.

Salazar smiled at the deep red blush he could tell Harry was sporting (he had never seen ear tips so red). He then stared at the perfectly pert ass in front of him. The blond reached down and gently rubbed the two cheeks, causing a moan to emit from the wizard they were attached to. Salazar didn't want Harry's nerves to have another chance to reappear, so he gently parted the cheeks in his hands before leaning down and licking his tongue along the pink hole there.

Harry's mind wiped blank at the sensation caused from Sal's tongue, preventing him from being embarrassed at the loud moan that he emitted. This was an entirely new experience for Harry and he wanted more. He impatiently pushed his hips backward towards the tongue flicking against his sensitive hole.

"Please…more."

Salazar chuckled and moved his grip to Harry's thighs to keep him still. He then plunged his tongue in the hot and clenching hole with no warning. Sal was thankful for his foresight as he had to use his new-found grip to keep the bucking and squirming wizard still. Salazar thrust his tongue in and out of Harry's tight heat, thoroughly enjoying the loud moans his lover was making.

He gently slipped a finger alongside his tongue and began to search for that certain spot. After a little while of not finding it, Sal removed his tongue and added a second finger for better depth. It was a bit deeper than he thought it would be, but he knew he found the right spot when Harry swore and arched off the couch. Salazar grinned for his small triumph of discovery before he focused on stretching the younger wizard, making sure to brush his fingers against Harry's prostate every fourth stroke or so.

After Salazar had thoroughly stretched Harry (having added a third finger at some point), the flushed and whimpering young man reached back and tugged Sal's hand from inside him.

"I'm ready. Please."

Salazar's cock twitched a bit in anticipation and while a part of him wanted to just push into the wizard and fuck him, he knew what Harry needed for this first time. The older wizard turned Harry to face him and gave him a quick but fiery kiss. Salazar gave a soft nip to young man's collarbone before lying back on the rug.

"I want you to top, Harry. You can set the pace."

Harry looked at Salazar tenderly. His lover was giving him the control he desperately needed to get over the last of his fears. He climbed onto Salazar's lap, causing both men to moan as their cocks brushed together. Harry reached down and stroked the other man's cock, casting a silent lubrication charm on his hand to slick up the hard length. Once Sal's cock was sufficiently coated, Harry leaned up on his knees before he scooted forward and pressed the tip of the cock against his hole. Harry sank down, moving slowly until the head finished pushing past the tightest ring of muscles. Harry paused to adjust, moving his hands to Salazar's chest.

Meanwhile, Salazar had clenched his hands into fists. He was trying to hold himself back from slamming his hips upwards into the heavenly tight heat. He didn't know if he could stop from pulling Harry down further if he placed his hands on the man's hips, so he kept them clenched by his sides until Harry was ready.

Harry lightly dug his fingernails into Sal's skin as he slowly took in more and more of the hard cock. He was relishing the control the position was giving him and was allowing himself to enjoy every tiny sensation. Once every inch of Salazar's cock was inside him, Harry leaned forward to kiss the blonde man.

Salazar groaned and moved his previously clenched hands to the back of Harry's head, keeping their mouths together as he used his tongue to show Harry just how hot his lover was making him.

Harry moaned into the kiss before he began rocking on Salazar's cock. It was small movements at first (the kind that made Salazar look like a saint due to his patience). As things became heated, Harry broke the kiss so he could move up and down in earnest.

Looking up at the beauty that was Harry riding him, Salazar couldn't help but feel the sight would make him release before the dark-haired man. Not wanting this first time to be spoiled by coming first (and giving Harry nothing hard to ride), Salazar reached forward and grasped the other's cock.

For Harry, a few tugs of his cock was all it took for his body to bend and for him to cum all over Salazar's hand and stomach. A loud moan from the other and a feeling of hot liquid filling Harry signaled to him that Sal had come soon after.

Harry collapsed against Salazar, scrunching his nose at the cooling cum that he felt rub onto his stomach. A wordless and wandless cleaning spell took care of the mess and Harry rolled so they were laying side-by-side.

After catching his breath, Salazar leaned over and lovingly kissed the other. No words were needed as they curled close together on the fireplace rug and drifted off to sleep.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Bliss _by Muse

**A/N 1: **This is the first slash scene I've ever written. I've read a ton of other slash and even did research on gay porn/sex guide/position option. (Some of it was eye-opening O_O). So, if it still sucks after all that, then I'm not sure I'm cut out to write smut.

**A/N 2: **I think just one or two chapters left to go! Then I can finally move on to something new (if I stop slacking). I know I mentioned possible m-preg, but that isn't going to happen in this story. Eventually I might do a sequel or two-shot, but that's quite a while in the future as my other fanfiction ideas have priority.


	17. You'll Find Your Way

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Bunch of shit happened last year. It was a bad year and updating this was the last thing on my priority list. I've managed to make myself finally sit and write this out though. Sorry for the long wait.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 16 – You'll Find Your Way**

**December 23**

**Potter Villa**

Harry groaned and swatted at the hand that was trying to shake him awake.

"Go 'way," he mumbled. "More sleep, Sal."

Salazar chuckled and traced his fingers feather-light across Harry's exposed shoulders and back. He grinned at the goose bumps and shiver his touch caused.

"I'm still too tired from last night," Harry said as he finally turned to face Salazar, who was already dressed for the day and standing by the bed.

Salazar smirked, before his expression became more serious.

"I'm waking you because you need to read this," he said, holding up a newspaper. "Remember the tingle you felt yesterday at lunch?"

Harry nodded, shaking the last remnants of sleep off, before taking the offered paper.

_**Boy-Who-Lived Chosen as New Headmaster!**_

_Many of you may remember that, for the first time in over a century, a new headmaster for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was to be chosen by the school's famous Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat, a magical artifact created by the school's founders, had stopped being used for this specific duty due to political interference. Luckily, Britain's new Minister-of-Magic, Lucius Malfoy, has seen fit to correct the errors of the past and restored the duty of choosing a headmaster to the Sorting Hat._

_During yesterday's Winter Solstice, the Sorting Hat made its decision and every one gathered for the announcement was shocked when the magical object declared that none other than Harry Potter, more commonly referred to as the Boy-Who-Lived, was to be the next headmaster. There was some quick protest from some of the school-aged children who were at the declaration who stated that Mr. Potter hadn't even graduated. Indeed, it seems that Harry Potter has not been attending for his seventh year, nor are there any Ministry-administered N.E.W.T.s on file for him. This has led to division among the population as to whether the new headmaster is capable to oversee the education of others._

_Another issue entirely is whether Mr. Potter is even willing to take the position. It was only about six months ago that the Boy-Who-Lived withdrew from the wizarding world after the events leading up to his seventeenth birthday. Will Harry Potter be willing to come back in order to help educate future generations, or will he keep firm on his resolve to stay away?_

Harry sent a panicked look to Salazar. "I can't go back. They always tear me apart! Why did it choose me?! I don't even have my N.E.W.T.s! I mean, I know I could pass them with all the tutoring you've been giving me but-"

Salazar silenced what was sure to be a long panic attack with a firm kiss to Harry's lips. He waited until he felt Harry calm and relax into the kiss before pulling back.

"Done panicking, love?"

Harry let out a huff before nodding. "I just don't know how to feel about this or what to do."

Salazar ran his fingers through his lover's messy bed-head. "No need to decide immediately. The students have gone on Winter Break. Take a few days to decide what you want to do, not what anyone else expects you to do."

"Fine, but my brain is still a bit overloaded. Help me clear my mind?"

Salazar groaned at the seductive grin Harry was giving him and started taking off the robes he had just recently put on.

"It would be my pleasure."

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

Harry let out a stressed breath before folding and sealing the letter he had been writing.

"Susdey!"

Harry glanced over at his house elf as it appeared.

The elf bowed before Harry. "Yes, master?"

Harry held out the letter to the house elf. "Please deliver this to Headmistress McGonagall. Make sure she is alone at the time."

The elf took the letter and bowed once more before popping out of sight.

Harry stood and stretched before going off in search of Salazar. The older wizard had been careful for the last ten days to let Harry work out what he really wanted without outside influence. Sal had spent that time at Harry's villa to be there if he was needed and to help take his mind off everything during the night.

Harry smiled fondly as he came across the man himself in the library. Sal had apparently fallen asleep in one of the couches in front of the cozy fireplace. Harry walked over and kissed the man's blonde hair.

Salazar stirred and eventually opened his eyes.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

Sal smiled and gently tugged Harry into his lap. "I was just dozing. A lovely lunch and a warm fireplace in winter brings out the hibernator in me."

Harry laughed and gave Sal a quick kiss before he turned more serious. "I've sent McGonagall my response."

The blonde sat up straighter and pulled Harry close. "Oh? Well, my dear, what did you decide?"

"I have decided to accept the position, but only with certain provisions. Firstly, I'm delaying my fully taking over until September. It would be too much hassle to change staffing and leadership halfway through the school year. I also want to take my N.E.W.T.s before I officially assume the headmaster post. That should take care of those who are using that argument against my placement.

"Secondly, I want to make sure that I have the power to add and remove classes. I want your opinion on the status of the school – both its physical state and the quality of education it is providing. So I also added in that I would be bringing someone with me for advice."

Harry paused to give Sal a quick kiss. "I'm unsure how you want to handle disclosing who you are exactly. I'm not ashamed or anything, but I can only imagine the backlash that will come with Salazar Slytherin reappearing. I'm thinking we'll need to lay groundwork on clearing up the misconception about your past before we reveal your identity."

Salazar grumbled a little, but he understood where Harry was coming from. If he just suddenly appeared with his father's misdeeds attributed to him, it would only add to Harry's stress from the public.

"The other founders willed some journals to me. I haven't had a chance to look through them yet, but there might be something in there that will clear things up."

Harry wrapped his arms around Sal and buried his face against the blonde's neck. "Thank you. I told McGonagall to write me back with a good time to get things rolling. I also told her she could give a copy of the letter to the press and Ministry. I'll ask her when we meet if she wishes to retire or if she wants her old teaching job back."

Sal ran a hand though Harry's hair. "Speaking of the Ministry, we'll need to schedule your testing and then do a little studying beforehand – just to cover our bases. And I know you won't want to deal with Lucius too much, so I'll make sure to meet with Tom and come to an agreement about him interfering at the school. I also have the feeling we'll be at Hogwarts a lot from now on. We need to spend the next couple of weeks closing up several of our properties."

Harry nipped at Sal's neck, grinning at the groan the man made. "We'll keep this one and your château as they feel more like home."

Sal gripped the hair he was running his hand through and pulled Harry into a fierce kiss. When they finally broke for air, Sal pressed his forehead to Harry's.

"I love you."

Harry's eyes lost the blissful expression and his face became pained and closed-off.

Sal started to panic and gently cupped Harry's face. "Hey hey. It's me, Salazar. Don't shut me out. I didn't mean to upset you."

Harry leaned against the older wizard and wiped his increasingly wet eyes against Sal's robes. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I should be sorry for upsetting you. Mind asking me what that was about?"

Harry sobbed a little. "The last one at the Durleys'...he-he used the l-word. My therapist says it dug into my psyche."

Salazar grimaced at the realization of what he had mistakenly triggered and tried to soothe Harry by running his hands up and down the young wizard's back.

"Harry. Listen closely. I am sorry that I triggered such a memory. But, I am not sorry for how I feel. I know you might need time to come to terms with the actual word, but I wanted you to know how strongly I care for you. I will word it differently if you wish."

Harry lifted his head while dragging his sleeve across his eyes to wipe away stray tears. "No. Don't. I-I want you to use the word. I need to erase the negative use of it from my past and replace it with what it really means. Plus, I want to be able to say it back one day without it bringing up bad memories."

Harry kissed Sal on the cheek and gave a weak smile. "I can't say it yet, but I do care for you a lot, Sal. Just, please, keep caring for me."

Sal smiled reassuredly at his lover. "Always, Harry."

**Three weeks later**

Salazar paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. He had finished his meeting with his last living relative and was currently waiting for Harry, who was supposed to floo in after he had gotten the results of his N.E.W.T.s.

The meeting with Tom had gone fairly well. The Dark Lord had basically stated that as long as none of the changes at Hogwarts interfered with his own goals, then Harry wouldn't have to worry about interference from either himself or the Ministry. Salazar did get a warning though that the muggle-born students graduating this year should be advised about the upcoming legislation regarding the penalty if they decided to leave for the muggle world. Those who left would get their memories of the Wizarding World erased and their magic would be blocked.

Salazar was shaken out of the memory of his recent meeting when the fireplace flared with light before Harry stumbled out (somehow managing to remain upright). Harry looked a little ruffled but smiled when he saw Sal. The younger wizard tightly hugged the other and the stress in his shoulders slowly ebbed away.

"Something happen, dear?"

Harry scoffed. "Tests went fine. Passed all the N.E.W.T.s thanks to you. Someone must have tipped off the entire Ministry and the press though, because there were a horde of people waiting in the atrium to either gawk or yell questions at me about being the new headmaster."

Salazar reached his hands up, massaging the rest of the tension from Harry's shoulders and back. He grinned as his lover moaned in appreciation and slumped against his chest.

"I hope they weren't too bad."

"No, I think they were too worried about possible backlash given how the other countries shamed them after the hospital incident. They were calm enough for me to inform them about the passing of my tests and to let them know that I would begin studying the headmaster duties in the next few weeks."

"Well, hopefully that'll silence some of naysayers."

"Hopefully. Now, how did your meeting go?"

Sal sat in a nearby chair, pulling Harry into his lap. He then proceeded to fill Harry in on his own success of the day.

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Faith _by Lisa Komine

**A/N 1: **Harry needed some drama again. Actually, I really just like Harry to cry sometimes. I also thought it was getting a little too fluffy given how this story started, so I thought his past needed to rear its head at least once more.

**A/N 2: **Only one chapter left! I promise not to take almost a whole year to put it out.


	18. I Will Always Love You

**Disclaimer:** Harry and all of Rowling's other characters & places are hers. Nothing is mine except the tiny plot bunny. If the series was mine, there'd be slash happening because we all know Harry is gay. As such, I am making nothing from this story.

**Summary:** AU post OotP: When Vernon takes the abuse of his nephew too far, Harry snaps. When Dumbledore and his meddling get involved, it just makes everything worse.

**Warnings:** Slash (male-male sex), abuse, character death, bad language, rape, pedophilia, non-con, incest, attempted suicide, bashing of most of the wizarding world. Ignores just about everything from the 6th and 7th books. I'll add more warnings should they be needed.

**A/N: **Here it is – the last chapter! For those hoping for a sequel, don't hold out much hope. I have several ideas I want to write out and, given how long it took me to finish this one story, a sequel is unlikely (and if it does happen, it won't be written for years).

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Chapter 17 – I Will Always Love You**

Harry heaved a sigh as he watched the scene below from his vantage point at a seventh floor window. Thestrals were pulling carriages full of students towards Hogsmeade to catch the train home for the summer.

'_This year went much easier than last,'_ Harry thought. _'Seems that better classes and no more Professor Binns can go a long way to make the students happy.' _Harry had just finished his second full year as Headmaster and things finally appeared to be settling down on all fronts.

The biggest uproar had been the new muggle-born legislation requiring muggle-born students to have to choose whether they would live solely in the Wizarding World and cut their muggle ties, or would have their magic bound and memories of the magical community wiped. The same law required the use of the Book of Names to find new muggle-borns so that the Ministry could take these magical newborns from their muggle parents to be raised by approved Wizarding families. Though the law passed two years ago, the commotion over it only settled down this past November after some research had shown exactly how many times information was leaked from a muggle-born who had chosen to live in the muggle world after they had finished their magical schooling. The almost fifty-percent of newly-attending muggle-born students who showed signs of abuse silenced most of the crowd who had been against the second half of the law.

Following by only a slim margin in terms of the turbulence it caused was the revelation of who exactly was Harry's advisor and lover. Luckily, the uproar was quick to diminish for most people as Sal and Harry had let copies of the founders' journals be "found" by some of the more reliable Wizarding papers. After his identity was revealed, Salazar had given an interview to _Owl Oracle_, helping to clear up some of the misunderstandings not covered in the journals. Finding out that the most recent Dark Lord was, in fact, descended from his sister and not Salazar himself made many people relax their prejudices about him. There were still a few people who refused to look at the evidence and saw him as some kind of evil monster, but said idiots were becoming few in number. Harry had even witnessed a witch hushing a heckler by saying that Sal and Harry being together was "so romantic". Well, whatever worked in their favor.

Another factor preventing peace in the last few years had been those he had gone to school with not taking him seriously as Headmaster and testing his boundaries. In his first year, several detentions with Filch stopped most of this. Still, this year had been easier – both because he had more experience and because there were fewer students who he had attended with.

Harry was startled out of his thoughts when he felt hands wrap around his shoulders. He relaxed his back into his love's chest.

"Don't sneak up on me, Sal."

Sal chuckled and kissed the top of Harry's messy black nest of hair. "No sneaking was involved. You were just lost in your thoughts again."

Harry huffed but didn't argue, given that it was the truth.

Sal rested his chin on the other's shoulder and glanced out the window to see what had caught Harry's attention. "Hmm. Looking forward to a break from the students?"

Harry laughed quietly. "They weren't so bad this year, but yes. What I most look forward to is getting away from Hogwarts for a few weeks after things are settled. Speaking of the castle, have you finished reversing and repairing all the changes your father did in the Chamber?"

Sal groaned at the reminder. "Almost. It should be done by the time you finish your headmaster duties for the year. Unfortunately my father was very talented at making his magic hard to negate. Over two years I've been cleaning up his mess! Two-"

Harry cut off his lover's familiar rant with a gentle kiss. "At least it's almost done. I'll let Professor Dimonium know that he can use the main chamber there for next year's Dueling practical lessons."

"That's fine. Oh! I forgot to mention this last night, but Lucius has been told to focus his pro-magical being laws this summer on vampires. It seems the veela and werewolf laws put into effect the past two years are starting to gain widespread acceptance."

"Hmm. Hopefully that acceptance will translate into love matches soon. I don't want to have any more squibs from inbreeding than necessary."

Sal hummed thoughtfully before pulling back from Harry. He clasped his lover's hand and tugged him towards the headmaster's office. His thumb rubbed over the ring on Harry's hand and he couldn't stop the smile that formed.

"No need to smile like the cat that got the canary. Like there was any doubt I would say yes to you when you asked last night."

Sal's smile widened and he leaned down to give Harry a quick peck on the lips, deciding not to mention that Harry's own smile was beaming. They hadn't told anyone else of their impending bonding yet but if they kept grinning like loons, McGonagall at the very least would figure it out.

As Harry said the password to the gargoyle guarding his rooms, Sal admired his intended. They could possibly be bonded this Yule – Harry would look marvelous adorned with snow. Then in a few years, they could talk about having children.

That thought woke up a certain primal part of Sal and the view of Harry's ass in front of him as they ascended the winding stairs only intensified the feeling. Well, even if they weren't ready for children quite yet, there wasn't anything wrong with practicing.

Salazar growled playfully and swept Harry up in his arms as they reached the top of the staircase. Harry squeaked in surprise before blushing and laughing as the blonde carried him towards the bedroom.

"I love you, Harry."

"I love you too, Sal."

**The End**

**-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-**

**Song for this chapter: **_Lovesong _by The Cure

**A/N: **I hope those who stuck with me throughout the story are pleased with how the story wrapped up. I am grateful for all those who reviewed, favorite, and followed this story. You guys are what kept me writing (even if some chapters took a long time).


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